Can We Make It Up As We Go?

I took a picture of my styrofoam coffee cup I used at the Holiday Inn Express a few days ago. Nothing against HI Express or their "Smart Roast" coffee. I thought the stay and the coffee were both good.

What caught my eye was the advertising tactic; rather well done I might add. As you can see, it assumes the person having the remarkable sense to both stay at HI Express and drink their coffee is a "dangerously" intelligent person.

Without going into any comparisons of coffees or motel/hotels, I am confident that any standard intelligence tests would never consider either.

While this may be OK (and even funny) in advertising, it is deadly in other areas. I'm thinking specifically about measuring my relationship with God using this kind of reasoning. I need to stay away from feeling secure based upon things I can measure.

After all, God's ways are higher than mine. Even David figured out that God wasn't focusing on burnt offerings and sacrifices. It was the "broken and contrite heart" and the "Abraham believed God" stuff that God measures.

We can't make up our own lists. Some people already tried it and it doesn't work. Paul mentioned that. Check our Romans 10:1-4.