My oldest daughter started running cross country for her school this year. She had never ran in a race before, so she didn’t know all the ins and outs of the sport. She has great coaches and friends who have helped her along the way, as she’s learned the rules and how to train.
When she was preparing for her first race, if they would have told her that in the last 20 yards, when you sprint it out to the end, that she should throw a few elbows at the other runners to get a better finishing place, she would have believed them and done that. She would have learned the hard way that’s not acceptable. The realization would sink in that she had taken someone’s word for the rules without accessing the source to know if elbows were allowed.
How we approach our Christian lives can be much the same. We have so many things at our fingertips every day that connect us to what we think is the latest and greatest on any given topic. The best preachers and teachers, the best news source, social media influencers, the list could go on.
We are able to feed our brains and hearts with information from many types of sources at any given time. However, we can have all these resources and neglect God’s biggest gift to us—His Word.
In 2 Timothy 3, the Word of God tells us that, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” He doesn’t say that our favorite preacher, politician, news anchor or social media influencer can do those things. It’s only in God’s Holy Scripture, the Word of God Himself, that we find guidance in how to approach culture and ultimately our whole lives.
Are we caring for the widow and the poor the way Jesus instructs us too? Are we treating all our neighbors with love, dignity and respect? Are we adhering to a biblical view of gender and sexuality? We must examine God’s Word to know what has resemblance to the Word but not actually what is instructed by God.
Paul mentions this in 2 Timothy 3, that we should beware of things that have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power. We need to examine our lives and see where we have put these voices above the Word of God.
I desire the instructions of how to live life the way God has called me to—not just for rules sake, but to live a full and pleasing life that honors God and points people to Him. Just like my daughter can’t take someone’s word for it but needs to know the rules in order to know exactly what is allowed in cross country finishes, I need to be laying every teaching I subject myself to over the Word of God.
God’s Word is the only thing that will give us the foundation to hear what the world is saying and choose the way of God. Let’s commit together to put God’s Word in our lives every day, so we can distinguish His voice among the voices of the age.
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