It’s Not About Rules
Posted by Karah
New Heights
Few people have reached the heights Sergey Bubka did. The Ukranian Olympian broke the world record for men’s pole vaulting 35 times in his career.
As a 19-year-old, Bubka was already a notable athlete after an upset victory at the World Championship of Athletics.
The Ukranian pole vaulter would go on to win six consecutive world championships from 1983-1999. He became an Olympic gold medalist in 1988. And in 1991, Bubka became the first person to clear 20 feet—a height that has not been matched since. To this day he remains the current world record holder.
His athletic career is one of unprecedented heights, earning him nicknames like “The Tsar” and being called the “Hero of Ukraine” by the Ukrainian president. He even has a stadium named after him in his home country.
Bubka reached higher levels than anyone ever expected. As a believer, Jesus calls you to the same thing.
Read Matthew 5:20-22. Consider these questions:
– How would you summarize this passage in your
own words?
– What higher standard did Jesus call His followers to?
– What impact do these verses have on the way you live your daily life? Explain.
The Point
Clearly, to Jesus, living obediently isn’t just about following all the rules. It’s about the condition of your heart. If your heart is pure, then your actions will be, too. And Jesus values purity.
“[To have Faith in Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.”
—C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Posted in Devotions, Girls | Tagged Camp Crestridge for Girls, Reprinted from ec magazine. © 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Used by permission., Ridgecrest Summer Camps, Weekly Devotions