Standard Living

It was a sunny November Saturday. Mary and I had just come into Carlinville, our new place of ministry. As I drove the U-Haul truck down Johnson street with Mary following in her car, I wondered what our new house would be like. We had only seen pictures.
Soon after moving in, we were told that our house was a “standard edition” house. I had no clue what that meant, but discovered that over 100 homes were built in Carlinville in the early 1900’s to house coal miners that were ordered out of the Sears catalogue. There are a few different styles sported in our town, but the most common one is called a “Carlin”. Maybe that is why our town is named, “Carlinville”.
Just by name a “standard edition” home must meet certain criteria. Each “Carlin” standard edition home is the same as any other “Carlin”. They are standardized. As I think about the church of today, I wonder, do we have strong standards? Does the church meet God’s standards?
A standard is a battleflag. When 2 nations would be in the thick of battle, they would raise their flags in the face of their enemy to threaten and intimidate. My question for you is, “Are you threatening the enemy with your life?” “Do your standards intimidate the enemy?” if not, perhaps it is time to examine your heart.
May your level of moral quality challenge those around you. May your integrity scare the enemy, and most importantly, May your life please our heavenly Father