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“For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.” (Psalm 18:29-32)

“Nobody’s perfect.”

Have you ever heard that phrase? Usually, it is what people say after someone makes a very small mistake. It is true. No human being can be perfect. We are human. We have limits. We get sleepy. We miss things. We lose things. We sin against one another. We sin against God. Whether imperfections are “small” or very, very large, humans will always have imperfections.

“He’s such a perfectionist.”

Have you ever heard that phrase? Many people try to never make mistakes. They try to be good all the time. They do good deeds. They do regular things with their best skill and the highest quality. A perfectionist might wash the same dish three times, and dry it with a clean towel until that dish just sparkles. And a perfectionist gets very upset with himself and with other people when things turn out less than perfect, after all. Have you ever known someone like that? Are you like that?

“As for God, his way is perfect…. It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.”

When a translation of the Bible uses the word “perfect,” it is not exactly talking about the kind of “perfect” we would normally think of first. In our time, we use the word “perfect” to describe something that has no flaws, no mistakes, no shortcomings, no limits, no sin. But what does “perfect” mean when we see it in the Bible?

when the Bible talks about perfection, it is talking about the absolute completion, or carrying-out, or accomplishment of something. Basically, it means totally righteous, totally whole, totally the way things should be. Have you ever heard someone mention “a perfect circle”? They do not mean “perfect” in the sense that the circle is sinless or never makes mistakes! Of course a circle cannot be “perfect” that way. They mean “perfect” in the sense that a perfect circle would not have wavy lines or gaps. A perfect circle comes all the way around to form a whole, rather than just a part of a circle.

“That kind of ‘perfect'” is what King David is singing about in Psalm 18. He was praising God for doing such a full, wonderful job of what David (with all his weaknesses and shortcomings) could never have done on his own. If David had tried to leap over a wall or escape from enemy troops all by himself, he would not have been able to. He would have fallen short. But God is the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the Earth. God IS perfect, in every sense of the word “perfect.” He never gets weary. He never loses things. He never sins. He has no flaws. And what He chooses to do, He does the best way possible. He brings it to completion. He accomplishes whatever He sets out to do.

King David was rejoicing that this God, Whose way of doing things is all perfection, is also the kind of God Who can and will help those who call upon Him. He can and will help us overcome our weaknesses and limits and mistakes. He can and will give us strength to do what it takes to finish a job we have to do. He can and will give us strength to say “no!” to temptations. He can and will help us believe wholly in Him, even when our faith is small. No wonder David was so full of praise! He had a perfect God Who was making him whole.

God is totally perfect in every sense of the word, and He can and will help those who call on Him.

My Response:
» Do I rely on myself and my strength rather than asking for God’s help?
» When I am frustrated with my limitations, do I rejoice that God does not have any?

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:6-9)

“Say ‘Mama,’ Stella. ‘Mama!'”

“No, Stella. You can say ‘Daddy,’ better, can’t you! Say ‘Daddy’!”

Jimmy laughed at the expression on his baby sister’s face as she looked back and forth from her mom to her dad. “You guys are going to confuse her!” Jimmy said to his parents. “Stella’s going to come out with something like ‘Dama’ or ‘Maddy’ if you both keep saying your names!”

Dad laughed, too. “You’re right, Jimmy. We probably ought to give her little brain a little break. We don’t want to make her dizzy just trying to make one of us happy.”

“True,” said Mom. “Besides, she doesn’t really have to say our names to please us. Both of us will love her whether she says our names or not!” Then Mom grinned. “But she’s going to say ‘Mama’ first!”

Do you ever get the feeling that there are too many people to please? Your siblings want you to share with them. Your friends want you to play with them. Your parents expect you to behave a certain way. Your teachers assign you projects and want you to listen in class. You might have chores to do and family to visit and pets to take care of. Have you ever thought about how many “rules” there are just for good manners? Saying “please,” saying “thank you,” holding a certain fork a certain way, chewing with your mouth closed, and the list goes on! Sometimes keeping track of all you have to do and say can become very overwhelming!

Colossians 2:6-9 says that if our trust is in Christ Jesus the Lord, we ought to walk in a way that pleases Him. It says that all kinds of people have all kinds of opinions, and you might meet people who will try to spoil (ruin) you with their godless opinions and worthless ideas. But we ought to be rooted in Christ, living to please Him. This passage says that Christ is the fulness of the Godhead bodily, which means that Christ is God! He is the Creator. He is the Redeemer. He is the highest Authority, and all other authorities (like your parents and teachers) were put in their positions by Him! Christ is God. If your goal in life is to please God above everyone else, then you will be obeying His Word. You can be sure that you will be doing what you ought to be doing!

Did you ever think about how God is really the only One we have to think about pleasing? Yes – of course – it is good to practice good manners and be concerned about other people. But ultimately, if we are growing in the knowledge of God’s Son and walking worthy of Christ – then we can trust that we are living in a way that pleases Him. And God is the most important One to please. If we please God, we will usually make our parents and other people happy automatically.

God is the main One we have to be concerned about pleasing.

My Response:
» Is my life pleasing God right now?
» How can I show I am more concerned about pleasing God than about pleasing others?

“He…set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.” (Psalm 40:2)

Have you ever watched a young child learning how to walk? The child totters and staggers around around while proud parents offer squeals of praise to encourage their little one to take more steps. The cameras flash, video recorders roll, and phone calls are made. The parents quickly clear toys and furniture out of the way to keep the child from getting hurt. Usually the child will fall many times in this process, but eventually get up and try again. Parents are there when the child falls and can help the child get back up. Would good parents knock their child down, or poke or push to make the baby fall? Of course not!

You are not a baby any more, but you still have to learn to walk. Yes; you may already know how to walk on two feet, but there is another kind of “walk” we all need to work on, for the rest of our lives. In the New Testament, Paul compares the Christian’s life to walking. As you probably know by now, becoming more and more like Christ is not an easy walk. We get tempted to sin against God. We face hard things like losing loved ones or moving to a new city. Walking God’s way is hard.

But Christians have a heavenly Father who helps them learn to walk the Christian life. He is beside you with every step. Does that mean that you will never fall down? No! David says in Psalm 40 that he was having difficulties in the Christian walk. But just like a little child learning to walk, you have a wonderful Father beside you to help you up: God. David asked the Lord for help (and you can, too, if you are God’s child), and God responded by helping David. The way David described God’s help was as though He put David’s feet on a solid rock to keep him from slipping. If you are looking for help for the Christian walk, you cannot get anymore security and strength than the kind that God gives!

God is the kind of Father Who will strengthen our steps in the Christian walk.

My Response:
» How am I struggling in my Christian “walk”?
» Have I asked my heavenly Father to help strengthen my steps?

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 28:19)

Lena’s mom was sitting at the kitchen table with twelve cardboard tubes laid in a row in front of her. She was cutting out pieces of felt and gluing them around the tubes. “What are you doing, Mom?” Lena asked.

“I’m making disciples,” said Mom. She laughed. “I really am! I’m teaching my Sunday school class about the twelve disciples. These little cardboard figures represent the twelve men Jesus chose to be His special followers. Would you like to help me glue their faces on?”

As Lena and Mom worked on the cardboard disciples, Mom told Lena about a verse in Matthew that says Christians are to “teach” all nations. “Do you know what the word teach means in that verse? It means to make disciples!”

“Like this?” Lena finished gluing Peter’s yarn beard in place and held him up.

“No, not the way we’re making disciples. The verse means that Christians are to teach other people how to be followers of Jesus – just like these twelve disciples were His followers.”

Lena thought about that for a few moments. “How can we help people be Jesus’ followers?” she asked. “Does that just mean telling people how to be saved?”

“That’s only the beginning of it,” said Mom. “After people get saved, they need other Christians to encourage them and help them grow. Helping somebody might mean praying with him about his problems, taking him to church, answering his questions, or telling him what a verse in the Bible means.”

“That sounds like a lot of work,” said Lena.

Mom carefully drew a smiling face on one of the disciples she was making. Then she looked up at Lena with a smile of her own. “It’s not always easy,” she said. “But Jesus promises to be with us always – and all the power in the universe is His. Isn’t it worth putting in a little extra time and effort to serve a Master like Him?”

Jesus wants believers to make disciples of other people.

My Response:
» Do I know anyone who needs encouragement to follow Jesus?
» How can I help that person?

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.” (John 8:31)

When Jesus was on Earth, He called people to come and follow after Him. You’ve probably heard the stories of how He called different men to be His followers, or disciples. He called Peter, Andrew, James, and John while they were fishing. He called Matthew, who was a tax collector. He even picked Judas, a man who would betray Him, to be His disciple. Twelve men were Jesus’ special followers who traveled with Him throughout His ministry on this Earth.

Women and children followed Jesus, too. Often there were crowds of people around Him wherever He went. But was everyone who followed after Jesus really His true disciple?

The word disciple means “a learner,” or someone who follows the teachings of another. Here are some things Jesus said about His true disciples. First, His disciples have to be people who have believed on Him (John 8:31). His disciples love Him more than anyone or anything else – even themselves (Luke 14:26). His disciples love each other (John 13:35). His disciples keep His Word – not just when they feel like it, but all the time (John 8:31). And His disciples bear fruit (John 15:8). In other words, people can look at them and see that God is changing their lives in good ways. He is making them like Jesus.

Jesus still wants true disciples today. Does it sound hard to be His true disciple? Jesus didn’t say that His true disciples would be perfect people. He did not say they would never fail in their love and obedience to Him. The word disciple means someone who is learning to love, obey, and bear fruit. Even disciples need the Holy Spirit’s help to make good changes in their lives. A disciple is someone who wants more than anything else to become like the perfect Teacher, Jesus Christ.

Jesus wants true disciples who are learning more and more to love and obey Him.

My Response:
» Am I a true disciple of Jesus?