Weekly Devo - "Whatever is True" - 9/17/12

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

 

WHATEVER IS TRUE

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

John 17:17

We live in a time where the Bible has never been more accessible. It’s available online, in apps, Christian bookstores, thrift stores, and even rummage sales. Sadly, having easy access to Scripture doesn’t mean it’s being read.

In a recent survey of more than 2,900 Protestant churchgoers, LifeWay Research discovered that while 90 percent of those polled “desire to please and honor Jesus in all I do,” only 19 percent personally read the Bible every day. Based on these stats, eighty percent of Christians are living today dependent on the past. They’re relying on past Bible reading, past sermons, past Bible studies, rather than daily and actively arming themselves for the fight with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

That’s a dangerous percentage when we live in a world that barrages us with deceitful messages, false ideas, subtle and out-and-out blatant lies about who God is and what He wants us to do.

One of my greatest joys is mentoring young women whose knowledge of God and Scripture is as diverse as their personalities and life experiences. During one Bible study, a gal confessed that she wanted to pluck someone’s eyes out. Her friend said, “She deserves it! Plus the Bible says, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’” She looked at me for confirmation.

“Let’s look it up,” I said. And in reading their Bibles they discovered that although she remembered the line “eye for eye, and tooth for tooth” from her childhood, the context of these words within Jesus’ command to love your enemies, eclipsed her (Matthew 5:38-44).

Within the familiar children’s song we sing, “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.” That knowledge of Jesus’ love, of who He is, of how He wants us to think and what He wants us to think about is found in the Bible. Knowing Jesus’ love should not be based on our feelings, hearsay, or even lovely devotionals that inspire our hearts. We know His love by reading the Bible, the greatest love story ever told: His story of redemption. We read Scripture because faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

If we’re going to think on whatever is true (Philippians 4:8), we must read the word of truth (John 17:17). Everyday.

Think on it: Does God speak to you everyday in Scripture? If not, do not go to bed tonight until you’ve read His Word.  

A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.

Charles Spurgeon