I Can Jump Higher Than You

Wednesday is our trash day.
The trash and recycling have to be put out the night before since our trash men come so early.
I am grateful to these two men who faithfully take our trash away each week.
When I see them on my walk, I wave to them.

If my husband is away on business, I am the one who puts the trash out the night before.
When I put the trash out this week, I thought of my sons.
Taking the trash out to the end of the driveway was always their job.
You would think that since there were two of them, they would take turns.

They decided early on that they would do this job together.
I wondered why they made that decision.
I thought I would watch them one night.
I looked out the dining room window and saw the reason.

For them, taking out the trash and recycling became a competition.
I watched one son grab the larger trash can with wheels.
I watched the other son grab the smaller recycling can with wheels.
I saw them race up the driveway, the trash and recycling cans weaving behind them.

I imagined the trash can lid opening and the trash bags falling out.
I imagined the recycling can, which had no lid, tumbling out onto the driveway.
Neither scenario happened.
Both boys were able to successfully reach the end of the driveway without spilling anything.

Putting out the trash was only part of the job.
Taking in the trash cans the next day was their job as well.
As they got off the bus at the corner, they were expected to bring the trash cans to the garage.
One day I noticed that they made this a competition, too.

It was much easier to run with empty trash and recycling cans.
I heard them laughing all the way down the driveway.
I heard the trash can and recycling can being wheeled into place.
Soon, I would hear the door open and my boys were officially home.

I notice that even in houses with children, the parents put out the trash.
I notice that often the parents bring them back in as well.
Some children see what needs to be done and do it.
Others, need chores delegated to them so they learn how to work.

No one gets a free ride in a family.
Everyone should have a vested interest in the house and its upkeep.
Chores build character.
Chores teach accountability.

A good work ethic is instilled in our children at an early age.
Without chores and a little hard work, children begin to feel entitled.
Nothing is expected of them.
The bar is quite low.

A good work ethic is important in life.
However, good works do not hold the same value in our spiritual life.
Too many people think that they can work their way into heaven.
They think that all the good they do somehow outweighs the bad.

Our salvation does not happen that way.

There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good not even one. (Romans 3:10-12)

I am tall; I can jump much higher than someone who is shorter than me.
A 7 foot basketball player would laugh and say that he can jump much higher than I can.
All of that is true.
Max Lucado’s made a brilliant point in his book, The Grip Of Grace.

Judging others is the quick and easy way to feel good about ourselves. A convenience-store-ego-boost. Standing next to all the Mussolinis and Hitlers and Dahmers of the world, we boast, “Look God, compared to them I’m not that bad.” But that’s the problem. God doesn’t compare us to them. They aren’t the standard. God is. And compared to him, Paul will argue, “There is no one who does anything good” (Rom. 3:12). Suppose God simplified matters and reduced the Bible to one command: “Thou must jump so high in the air that you touch the moon.” No need to love your neighbor or pray or follow Jesus; just touch the moon by virtue of a jump, and you’ll be saved. We’d never make it. There may be a few who jump three or four feet, even fewer who jump five or six; but compared to the distance we have to go, no one gets very far. Though you may jump six inches higher than I do, it’s scarcely reason to boast. Now, God hasn’t called us to touch the moon, but he might as well have. He said, “You must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). None of us can meet God’s standard. As a result, none of us deserves to don the robe and stand behind the bench and judge others. Why? We aren’t good enough. Dahmer may jump six inches and you may jump six feet, but compared to the 230,000 miles that remain, who can boast?

We cannot save ourselves.
We might as well jump to the moon as get to heaven on our works.
We can never do enough good works to outweigh our sinful hearts.
Someone who never sinned and who obeyed the Father perfectly had to be our substitute.

Jesus came from heaven and was born of a woman.
Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:52)
Jesus never sinned; when He was tempted by Satan, Jesus spoke the words of His Father.
Jesus died on a cross, was buried, and rose again.

Jesus died in our place.
We are the unrighteous ones.
We deserve the death that Jesus died for us.
All of our sin and all of our offenses were placed on Jesus as He hung on that cross.

Jesus is the only one who could, as Lucado said, jump to the moon.
All of our jumping, trying, and working falls short.
It falls short every time
We have so far to go and can never get there on our own.

We have a Savior who died for us.
Jesus bridged the great divide on our behalf.
All we must do is believe that Jesus died in our place and rose again.
There is no amount of jumping or working that will ever get us to heaven on our own.

Chores are good character builders for our children; work is good for us as well.
No matter how well we do our chores or our job, they will not save us.
Stop trying to pave the way to heaven with good works; they will never get you there.
The Lord Jesus is the only Way to heaven when you come to Him in faith.

So get to it.
Get busy.
All you have to do in order to be saved is jump to the moon on your own power.
How’s that working for you?