One of my New Years’ resolutions was to try to lose weight. Losing weight is the number one New Years’ resolution for Americans according to a recent survey. 21.4% of Americans resolved to lose weight in 2018. The next closest resolution on the list was life/self-improvements at 12.3%, followed by better financial decisions at 8.5% and quitting smoking at 7.1%. These are all good goals. You may have heard that a good goal is SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. Let me focus on the goal being measurable. Weight loss is certainly that. We measure weight loss by stepping on a scale, but the scale is a cruel taskmaster.
It is cold, mechanical, insensitive, harsh and exacting. I stand on mine every week with a mixture of hope and dread while it calculates. In those two seconds of waiting, my effort for the entire week will either be validated or will have been in vain. My scale blinks three times before rendering final judgment in menacing black digits against an icy blue background. The scale is merciless. It doesn’t care how hard I have tried to please it this week. It is not interested in how much I have exercised this week, or how many times I chose the salad over the cheesy burrito. It is heartless and emotionless. It tells the truth without regard for my feelings or how much its judgment might discourage me, and it gives me no hope for the week to come. When I step on the scale for my weekly weigh-in, I know I will pay the price for every Ring Ding or Raisinette I may have eaten during the week, because the scale tells the truth without grace.
I wonder if you can tell where I’m going with this. In contrast to my severe scale is my gracious God. I believe that Jesus died for my sins and rose from the dead and because of that I will be in heaven with Jesus one day. That’s the good news of the gospel. The Bible says “there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” Unlike my painstaking effort to lose weight, my salvation does not depend the least bit on my effort, but on the effort of Jesus who died for me. Unlike the cold and callous scale, my Savior loves me and gives me His abundant grace. He did ALL the work required for my salvation, dying to pay the penalty for my sin, taking the punishment that is mine on Him. The Bible says of Jesus: “We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. When I stand before Jesus, I will not pay for any sin that I committed. The truth is that I deserve judgment, but because of His grace, I will get mercy.
If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, you know that even when you have not cheated the whole week, you still might not lose any weight. You might even gain weight. You think you’ve done enough to lose weight that week, but on judgment day (weigh-in day), you find out that you have not. Maybe you ate something salty and you are retaining water. Maybe you didn’t exercise as much as you thought. You can never be sure if you’ve done enough to lose weight. Trying to get to heaven by your works is similar. The only difference is that with the scale, you can do enough good works to lose weight this week. But without trusting in Jesus, you can’t do enough good works to get heaven. With Jesus, you never have to worry if you have done enough. He has done it all. All you need to do is believe.
The scale is a cruel taskmaster, but Jesus loves you more than you can ever know. Believe in Him today and know for certain that you have eternal life.
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