Less Precision, More Jesus

On my desk I have a calculator—a solar powered calculator with simple functions and big numbers. I use it for a lot of things, and it has never let me down. It adds and subtracts with great precision. Rarely do I need it to multiply or divide, but it does those operations with great accuracy as well.

Calculators are good because they are exact. Precise... calculated! But, if calculators establish the pulse of my life I am to be pitied.

If, when I hit the “=” sign, I determine the course of my day, my week, my month, or my life I shortchange what God wants to do in me and through me.

Jesus didn’t use a calculator when He lavished His grace upon us. He didn’t need to sharpen His pencil before He paid for my sin because He didn’t just settle the score: His grace overwhelmed and obliterated my sin. Past. Present. Future.

With this pattern, Jesus invites me to live His way, with His heart and His strategy, to be lavish toward the things that matter most to Him.

My calculator would explode if it attempted to calculate the unbounded mercy of God.

And so, when I choose to live my life within the safe boundaries of my calculations I miss something important. Something Godly and good. Something courageous and miraculous. Something spontaneous and unselfish.

Is it possible that I might unlock my soul by locking away my calculator?

This is precisely why the Apostle Paul writes: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us...” Ephesians 3:20 (ESV) The “far more abundantly” key does not exist on my calculator.

Am I ready to live like this?

Are you?

Less Precision, More Jesus

On my desk I have a calculator—a solar powered calculator with simple functions and big numbers. I use it for a lot of things, and it has never let me down. It adds and subtracts with great precision. Rarely do I need it to multiply or divide, but it does those operations with great accuracy as well.

Calculators are good because they are exact. Precise... calculated! But, if calculators establish the pulse of my life I am to be pitied.

If, when I hit the “=” sign, I determine the course of my day, my week, my month, or my life I shortchange what God wants to do in me and through me.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight...” Ephesians 1:6­7 (ESV)

Jesus didn’t use a calculator when He lavished His grace upon us. He didn’t need to sharpen His pencil before He paid for my sin because He didn’t just settle the score: His grace overwhelmed and obliterated my sin. Past. Present. Future. With this pattern, Jesus invites me to live His way, with His heart and His strategy, to be lavish toward the things that matter most to Him.

My calculator would explode if it attempted to calculate the unbounded mercy of God.

And so, when I choose to live my life within the safe boundaries of my calculations I miss something important. Something Godly and good. Something courageous and miraculous. Something spontaneous and unselfish. Is it possible that I might unlock my soul by locking away my calculator?

This is precisely why the Apostle Paul writes: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us...” Ephesians 3:20 (ESV) The “far more abundantly” key does not exist on my calculator.

Am I ready to live like this?

Are you?