Reconciled

I just finished reconciling my checkbook. It's such a satisfying feeling to see those zeros which indicate my checkbook is in agreement with my bank statement. But before I get to that point, I usually have to do a bit of adjusting. Somehow things don't usually balance out at first. Inevitably, I've failed to record a few transactions in Quicken, and sometimes there's a discrepancy between my amounts as recorded, and the bank's report. In most cases, I end up relying on the bank's statement rather than on my record, and so far I've managed to keep my checkbook balanced.

Imagine though, if I chose to rely solely on my records. What if I marched down to the bank over every little discrepancy and insisted the error lay with the bank. Or what if I just chose to ignore the few minor differences every month, instead of considering possible error on my part?

How ridiculous, you'd say! But isn't that what so many people do with God? Rather than accepting God's word as the inerrant, unwavering source of truth, they make up their own standards of what is right and what is wrong. And in their minds, that's the only thing they have to measure up to.

I like knowing for a fact that I don't measure up. I can't and never will measure up to God's standards of righteousness. But thanks be to God, I don't have to try. God in His mercy has already afforded me His assurance of reconciliation through His Son. II Cor. 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation (KJV). I'll take God's accounting system over mine anyday!