Who's Standard Are You Following?

Have you ever watched Robin Hood? Ever envisioned yourself picking up a bow and arrow, pulling back the string and hitting the bullseye.  Maybe you have become a high scorer in archery at Wii Resort. Some of you may pull some arrows whether your bow is straight, recurved or compound.
I once heard of an archer who seemed to be a professional at hitting the bullseye. All over the side of a barn were targets with an arrow stuck in the middle of each one. A bystander amazed at this archer’s expertise asked what his secret was. “I shoot the arrows and then paint a bullseye around where it landed.” I don’t think his particular standard would be accepted in the National Archers Association.
Say you are a runner who boasted a time of 6 minutes for 10k. People would be all over you trying to find out your secret. Then when they compare your watch to the official time keeper, it not up to standard. Instead, your’s was operating extremely slow. You may argue all you want but the official watch sets the bar.
I try to measure as accurately as one can doing 100 km/hr on the highway the 1 km test grids. First, I want to make sure my odometer is correct. Second, I want to make sure my driving speed is in conjunction with the appropriate time. It is not a good idea to try convincing the police officer the highway markings for the exact distance is wrong when your speedometer is faulty. 
You may fuss and fume but unless you operate according to the prescribed standards in any area of life, your performance will be less than stellar and you may even face negative consequences.
When your time comes and you stand before God and He asks, “Why should I let you into My heaven?”  What will be your response?
Many will try, “I have been a good person. Therefore I qualify.”
Others might try to convince God with, “I haven’t murdered anyone or robbed a bank. I am certainly better that a lot of people I know.”
They are basing their future on their own standard.
If a person who attacked and killed a friend in front of many witnesses stood before the Judge stated,  “Judge, sure I did as these witnesses have said, but I am basically good. I helped little old ladies across the street. I served in the soup kitchen. I even gave at the local charity. You can overlook this sin because of all my goodness.”
If the judge let him go, we would accuse the judge of being evil. To be a good judge, he would pronounce his sentence based on the legal standard and the facts. The good deeds don’t counterbalance the crime.

God set the standard for heaven and we are all guilty of breaking His standard. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) is like an archer and his arrow falling far short of the target.
Realizing how high God’s bar is and how pitifully short we fall would certainly be bad news if it were left there but that is not where it ends.
Here is the good news: Jesus, God’s Son came and through His forgiveness paves the way so that we can reach the holy standard God requires.
Like an arrow, when we ask Jesus to help us and forgive us of our selfishness, He changes our flight path so we hit the center of the target.  Through grace, which we do not deserve, God re-calibrates our watch to match His so our lives reflects His goodness, not our foolish boastings. 
Our standard of right and wrong is way out of whack in light of God’s bench mark. “For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgement and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) Through (your) faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves - of your own doing, it came not through your own striving - but it is the gift of God”  (Ephesians 2:8 AMP.)
Since we realize God’s standard and how to reach it through Jesus.  It is His standard not man’s that we must attain unto.The consequences of trying to reach God on our own are dire, no they are down right deadly. What is keeping you from coming to God and His great forgiveness today?