Do you have a standard by which you live your life? The answer is yes, you do. So what is it? You may not have any idea. Yet each one of us does. We have a lens that we see the whole world through. It is how we perceive situations, how we analyze others, and how we make decisions. It is also the standard to which we hold others accountable. We do all of this naturally whether we realize it or not.
Therefore we should put some thought into what this standard is. We have a standard, business leaders have standards, and lawmakers have standards. Each one of these standards then impacts how we live our lives as we hold ourselves accountable to this standard, and the world around us then imposes their standard on us as we do the same to them.
Is this fair? We can’t really make a judgment as to whether it is fair or not because it is just the way that life is. It happens so we have to live with it. The better question is to look internally and ask ourselves: What standard do I live by and expect others to live by as well?
In Joshua chapter 9 the Israelites are coerced into entering into a treaty with a partner that they thought was from a neighboring country but was actually from the town right next door. They knew entering into a treaty with a neighboring town would lead to destruction but they unknowingly did it anyway. Joshua gets upset because he feels that he was betrayed and deceived. He feels this way because of the standard by which he lived. His standard was God’s Word. The actions of the neighboring town in his mind were deceitful. For that town though it was a matter of life and death. They chose life even if it meant they lied. According to their standard though it may not have been a lie and now, because of the treaty, they were going to live. So who was right? The answer to that can only be determined when we know what standard we are being held to.
This then is the confusing part of the world that we live in today. There is no final standard by which we can judge things. This issue then leaves us in a world divided where we do not know which way to go. Is there an ultimate standard by which we should live? I believe there is, and it is the same one that Joshua lived by and that is God’s Word.
Why should we live by this one? Because it is the only one that someday we will be judged by. Revelation 20:12 tells us of a day when there will be a final judgment and that there will be books opened and used to judge us. I believe that one of those books will be God’s Word. Jesus himself said in John 12:48: There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. God’s Word will judge us on that last day. Therefore it should be the standard by which we live today.
Is this standard the one that all should be held to? Yes. Is it fair that we should have this expectation for people even if they don’t believe this to be true? Yes it is. In fact it is necessary that we tell people about this because the unfair thing to do would be to allow people to live through this life and not know there is a standard by which they will be judged.
Therefore we must do something about this. Like Joshua did in his day, we must do the same in ours. We must tell people about this standard and encourage everyone to live by it. So if you live by God’s Word as your standard, tell people about it. It is unfair if we don’t. Let’s start a conversation!