Josh McDowell's Youth DevotionsEgzanp

RECIPE FOR RIGHT.

You're planning a surprise birthday party for your mom. You invite your little sister to help you bake the cake.

"Let's make a chocolate cake!" Sis squeals.

"OK," you agree and pull out a box of chocolate cake mix from the cupboard. "This says we need a half cup of water, a half cup of vegetable oil, and two eggs."

Sis says, "I wanna do that!"

You shrug. "Sure, OK," you say. You pour the cake mix into a large mixing bowl. Then you see that Sis is putting water into a doll cup.

"Sis," you say, "we need to use a measuring cup."

"This is a cup," she says, pointing to the miniature teacup holding the water.

"But we need to use this cup," you say. You grab a glass measuring cup.

"But I wanna use my cup!" Sis's face wrinkles up as though she's just swallowed a lemon whole. She's about to cry.

What should you do? If you use Sis's doll cups, your cake will be a disaster, of course. Why? Because the recipe relies on a standard measurement. You can't just use any size cup. You know that when a recipe says to use a cup of flour or a teaspoon of cinnamon, you must measure those quantities against a standard.

It's the same way with knowing whether something is right or wrong. A lot of people try to "measure" whether it's right to do something by how they feel or what they think or what other people might say. But the recipe for right and wrong relies on a measurement just like the recipe for a cake does. Only the standard measurement of right and wrong isn't a cup or a teaspoon; it's God.

In other words, God is the measurement of whether something is right or wrong. "He is a faithful God who does no wrong," Deuteronomy says. Whatever is like God is right. Whatever is not like God is wrong. For example, telling the truth is right and lying is wrong because God is true and trustworthy.

If you want to figure out whether something is right or wrong, all you need to do is follow the recipe: Measure it against our God, "a faithful God who does no wrong."

REFLECT: Think about the statements "Whatever is like God is right" and "Whatever is not like God is wrong." Can you think of any examples (like the example of telling the truth and lying that was given above) that agree with either statement?

ACT: To remind yourself that God's Word is the standard of "measurement" for right and wrong, you could carry a small measuring spoon around with you in your pocket, purse, or backpack today. Or you could keep a measuring tape in your locker.

PRAY: "Thank you, God, for being perfect and fair and faithful. Show me how to be more like you, especially when I..."