Dear Pilgrim, what measure are you using?

Dear Pilgrim, what measure are you using? Is it a generous helping, pressed down, shaken together and running over? Is it a full measure in response to the full measure He has poured upon you?

For He has not treated us as our sins deserve, or repaid us according to our iniquities (Ps 103:10). For the Lord our God weighs our deeds, our motives, and our hearts – and in all cases we were weighed on the scales and we were found wanting. But where sin and wickedness increased, the grace of God increased all the more. For it was His Servant who drank the full strength of the cup of wrath as all our sins were laid upon Him. It was He who received the full measure of all that our sins and iniquities deserved. Oh, Pilgrim, let our tears overflow as we take in this glorious gospel truth. For He has not given us just grace and a gift through Jesus Christ – He has given us an abundant provision of grace, an abundant provision of the gift of life that we might reign in life through Jesus Christ (Rom 5:17)! As Boaz poured into Ruth’s shawl six measures, six whole measures, of barley when she approached her kinsman-redeemer seeking His favour (Ruth 3:15), so this points to the abundant provision that is poured into us as we approach our Kinsman-Redeemer seeking His favour!

For the grace of our Lord has been poured out on us abundantly! God is rich in mercy, and in Christ we have been given mercy in abundance (Jude 1:2)! Faith, love and peace are also ours in abundance! How abundant are the good things that He has stored up for those who fear Him, that He bestows in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in Him (Ps 31:19)! Let us celebrate His abundant goodness and joyfully sing of His righteousness (Ps 145:7)!

For it is His desire to give a full measure. Jesus wanted His disciples to have the full measure of His joy within them (John 17:13). Paul prays that the Ephesians might not only have the power to grasp the love of God, but that they would know the love of God,  that they might be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Eph 3:18-19). As the fullness of the Deity lives in Christ in bodily form, so too in Christ we have been brought to fullness (Col 2:9-10). Oh, Pilgrim, listen to that again – as the fullness of the Deity lives in Christ in bodily form, so too in Christ we have been brought to fullness. Fullness! Oh, Pilgrim, are we filled with the fullness of Christ?

Just as Jesus filled the jars with water to the brim in Capernaum, so too He longs to fill us to the brim with His Holy Spirit, that rivers of living water may flow from us. Let us ask Him to fill us with the Holy Spirit, that we may be filled to the brim! And as our love abounds more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, we will be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – for all those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled! As we come to Christ, He will fill us with an inexpressible and glorious joy (1 Pe 1:8), He will fill us with all joy and peace as we trust in Him, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:13). Oh, Pilgrim, be filled, be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God!

For we worship a God who fills heaven and earth (Jer 23:24). Christ descended to the lower, earthly regions, and He ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe (Eph 4:10). And there is a day coming when Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit (Isa 27:6). There is a day coming when the vineyard will be fruitful, and the world will sing about it as the Lord watches over it, watering it continually. The wedding hall will be filled with guests (Mt 22:10), it will be filled with the fragrance of perfume (John 12:3), it will be filled with His love (Ps 119:64), it will be filled with glorious sounds of praise coming from the mouths of those whose lips are filled with His praise, declaring His splendour all day long (Ps 71:8) – it will be filled with the glory of God!

Pilgrim, as we look for this day to come, let us ensure that we are living as children of the Most High God, using the same measure as the measure we have been given. Let us never be satisfied with anything less than a full measure! Let us make sure we are not those who would skimp on the measure (Amos 8:5). Let us love our enemies, let us show mercy, let us forgive and let us give, not holding anything back. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them (Mt 25:29). So let us abound in every good work, for our comfort abounds in Christ.