It was quite a popular book 400 years ago when men were concerned about being godly. A little over 250 pages, it has twelve chapters that are directly written toward what a godly man looks like. The title of this little book is The Godly Man’s Portrait by Thomas Watson. While I don’t have an original copy, what I do have is just as good-a reprint done by the Banner of Truth Trust. I have a little book in my personal library that was written in 1666. There are measurements that we can find in the Word of God that can help us to see which way to go. The same thing can be said for the scope of the spiritual world where the traffic of men’s souls moves not just on a daily docket but on an eternal path. If there was great variability in any of these categories it would have a very negative impact on the order of our world. The matter of money also has a great impact on local, national, and world economies. The matter of time has great impact on how airports function, how hospitals schedule procedures, and how the shipping industry works. There are other measurements that we could explore today also.
Our world would be full of engineering disasters if the standards of measurements all degenerated into such a state of chaos. The building industry is also regulated by inspectors who have determined that 12 inches will always be equivalent to one foot. What if drug companies decided to have variable amounts of the contents of chemicals that went into developing the drug? It would have a huge impact on our health. The Food and Drug Administration also has a division that spends time inspecting pharmaceutical companies to make sure that when they say that the drug has 1000 milligrams in it that it has that precise amount. What if the measurement of a gallon was variable? What if one company would give ¾ ‘s of a gallon and yet say it was a gallon? The public would rise up in arms because the companies would be guilty of cheating the consumer. When you go to the gas pumps, you will see a seal there that lists the name of a state agency that has determined that the pump has delivered exactly one gallon of gas accurately. In fact there are government agencies that go around doing tests on various devices to make sure that companies are being honest in the selling of goods.
We live in a world that depends of secure and unchanging measurements. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:11-12 KJV But thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.