What Does the
Bible Say?
How
often do we as 21st century Christians set down and read
our Bibles? Do we let other people tell us what
the Bible says and go with it, or do we read what God
says in His word and let Him be the one who directs us
in our daily walk? Jesus told a group of people
who were challenging Him in
Mark 7:6-10, "These
people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are
far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings
are but rules taught by men.' 8 You have let go of the
commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of
men." 9 And he said to them: "You have a fine way
of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe
your own traditions!" If Jesus condemned
people in the first century for setting aside God's
rules then it only makes sense that we shouldn't do that
today.
Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the
man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good
work." Nothing we need to know is missing from
God's word. Since the word of God thoroughly
equips us for every good work, then it only makes sense
that we should get all of our instructions on living our
lives from it and no other source. When we do
this, we have assurance that we are not setting aside
the teachings of God in favor of things that men say we
must do.
And finally, Jesus
taught in John 12:48 that "There is a judge for the
one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that
very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last
day." From just three verses of scripture from
the God's word, we see that if we reject God's word in
favor of men's teachings, our worship is of no value to
God; that God's word contains everything we need to know
and that it will be used to judge us when Jesus returns.
Are need to ask
ourselves, are we getting our instructions from the
source? Do we know what God's word says or do we
know what someone else thinks it says? There are a
lot of problems out in the world today. One only
has to turn on the TV to any news channel and see that
there is much pain, suffering and sorrow out in the
world and it's getting worse. Too many people are
setting aside the commandments of God in favor of the
wishes of men. More people need to read their
Bibles. Imagine what a wonderful place this world
could be if everyone read and followed the teachings of
God. All of society's problems are a result of not
knowing and living God's word.
The first step is
to read God's word and know what it says for ourselves.
2 Timothy 2:15 reads, "Do your best to present
yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not
need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of
truth." The King James version reads, "Study
to show yourselves approved". Read and learn
what God expects and then from there, we can share it
with others. The word of God has the power to
change people for the better, but if we don't know what
it says, we cannot use it to help ourselves and others.
The Word of God
says a lot about what's wrong in our society today.
Let me encourage you who may be reading this to get your
Bible some time today and everyday thereafter and read
for yourself, 'What does the Bible Say?'
We at the church of Christ in Granby, Missouri would
welcome the opportunity to share our faith in the risen
savior with you. Our assembly times are Sundays from
10:00 AM to noon and from 5:00 to 6:00 in the
afternoons. We offer Bible studies on Wednesday
evenings from 6:00 to 7:00 PM. Directions to our
building are south on main street from the traffic light
to the Granby house and then east for 2 blocks on Pine
street. More information is available on our website at
www.granbychurchofChrist.org. All are welcome.
The
church of Christ
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