When Good Enough Is Not Good Enough

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9

D.L. MOODY
Nobody knows what is in the human heart but Christ. We do not know our own hearts; none of us have any idea how bad they are. Some bitter things have been written against me, but I know a good many more things about myself that are badder than any other man. There is nothing good in the old Adam nature. We have got a heart in rebellion against God by nature, and we do not even love God unless we are born of the Spirit.
This is a truth that men do not at all like, but I have noticed that the medicine we do not like is often the medicine that will do us good. If we do not think we are as bad as the description, we must just take a closer look at ourselves.

ERWIN LUTZER
The moral gap between us and God is infinite. I believe God never shows us the seeds of wickedness and deceit that exist in every man and woman; if He did, we might not be able to endure it. Many of us think we are good people or good enough to enter heaven, but we don’t take into account the fact that God’s hatred of sin is beyond our comprehension. And thankfully, Jesus Christ supplies all that God demands. He is our perfection and based on Him our entrance into heaven is assured.
Don’t let your heart deceive you! By nature, we run from God; we come to Him only because He searches for us! We are sinners, helpless and needy in the presence of a God whose holiness burns brighter than the sun. Were it not for His grace in Christ, we would be damned forever. Even our good works are tainted with sin. Perhaps He would even call them “works of lawlessness.” Thank God for the perfection of Christ.

PRAYER
Father, you have searched me; show me what you see so I may deeply repent. Please open my heart to show me my need for you.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS
How does shifting our gaze to a God "whose holiness burns brighter than the sun" instantly shatter our confidence in being "good enough" for heaven?

Why do you think we tend to maximize our goodness and minimize God's holiness?