Will You Measure Up?

474 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from: 2Sa 8:2 Then he defeated Moab. Forcing them down to the ground, he measured them off with a line. With two lines he measured off those to be put to death, and with one full line those to be kept alive. (2 Sam 8:2)Having defeated the Philistines, David now defeats the Moabites. Let's try to picture what this looked like. All the Moabites were forced to lie on the ground, and then they were judged. Two lines were used to measure those who would be put to death. Those who fell short of either of those two lines were executed. One “full” line (an exact measurement) was used to determine those who would live. This whole scenario is a picture for us of Judgment Day. As it is written in Ro 14:10b-12, “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written: "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." 12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.” With knees bowed to the ground, accounts will be given. Who will live, who will die? What are these two lines a picture of? What are these measurements? To what measuring lines can they be compared to in the New Testament? Mr 16:16 says, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” We find two measuring lines in the first part of this verse. Belief and baptism. Those who believe and are baptized will be saved. These are both vital units of measurement (lines) in the Kingdom of God and why we always see them together in the accounts of the early church. It's why all Christian churches through the ages have made faith and baptism a point of emphasis. But what do we make of David's second line of measurement? It is called a “full” line or a complete line. Those who measured up to the complete line were saved. In the New Testament, the one exact line of measurement spoken of here fits all of those who have by faith put on Christ, because in Christ, we are made complete. Col 2:10 says, “and you are complete in Him,” Some believe that Christ is put on in baptism and kept on by faith, others believe Christ is put on in by faith and the act of baptism is an affirmation of that faith. Both camps understand both faith and baptism to be important, and that certainly seems to be in line with God's Word. One thing we all know, we cannot measure up to salvation on our own, and so we thank God for His gift of faith by grace however and whenever it comes to us. Father, as we seek to sort these things out on earth, my prayer is simply this, that when all is said and done, I will be found in Christ.