You probably won’t have noticed but the kilogram isn’t quite what it used to be. Since 1889 the perfect platinum-based kilogram, known as Le Grand K, has been held in a safe in Paris. It sets the standard for every other kilogram in the world. The only problem is that it’s been losing weight as it slowly deteriorates with the passing of the years. Not a huge amount a weight it must be admitted – in fact less than the weight of a single human eyelash – but that’s still less than perfect.
So, last week the General Conference on Weights and Measures decided on a new way of measuring the kilogram using electric current. The perfect weight can now be assured for the rest of time.
In a similar way the Bible tells us that human beings were created to perfectly reflect the image of God in which they were made. Like the kilogram, however, we’ve deteriorated over time and are now far from the original. But unlike the General Conference on Weights and Measures, God’s solution was not to replace us with something different, but rather to send his son to remind us of the perfect standard we were designed to reflect and then give us the power to conform.
