Thursday of Trinity III - Devotion in semi-Exile

Lection for Thursday after Trinity III 
Joshua 7:1-26      Acts 10:34-48

I was moved by a discussion I was having with someone, and it prompted me to look ahead to see what readings from Acts will be coming up. I noticed that a particular chapter was missing. I thought it very unfortunate. So…

I have a quick question for you, where is your Bible?  Could you pick it up immediately, or would you have to search for it?  How’s the binding on it, worn and easy to open because you read it regularly - or is it stiff with disuse?

For further thought, consider these questions comparing our Bibles to cell phones (these were sent to me in an e-mail from a friend).
Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several time a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?
If we’re honest, it is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?

As we continue our daily walk in the wilderness of life, we are daily confronted with temptations by the devil, the world, and even our own sinful flesh.  Each day we struggle.  When confronted with temptation, fear, doubt, apprehension, questions of morality, and other things, is there someplace we can find the answers?  Yes, in the Scriptures, God’s holy word given to His people.

What is more, today, there are all sorts of teachings out there that make us struggle with faith issues, many of them claim to be compatible with Christian teachings.  It is amazing, but I have found Christians who believe many things that are not biblically grounded, and I believe it is because too many studied the Bible in Sunday School or Confirmation instruction, and now it sits on the shelf.  I have found “Christians” (I use that term loosely) who believe in reincarnation, think abortion and euthanasia are not murder, believe that sexual relations outside of marriage are acceptable to God, think homosexuality isn’t sin, and this list could go on.

While we are confronted with these and numerous other things, we should consider this passage from Acts 17:10 12 (ESV), where we read the following:

    The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.  Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Did you catch it?  When Paul and Silas came to Berea and were proclaiming the Gospel to them, they didn’t simply believe it - they examined the Scriptures *DAILY* to see if these things were so.  They received the Gospel proclamation because it was in agreement with the Scriptures.

It is not be easy to be a Christian.  We daily struggle with ideas that sound appealing.  We should not believe them or follow them because they fit our ideas or our mood.  As Christians, we believe them only when they are in agreement with God’s Word, the Scriptures.  And when they are not in agreement with the Scriptures, we must reject them as false - even when they come from those claiming to be Christians.

Do you know what this means?  To be prepared to defend our faith in truth, you and I need to find ourselves immersed in the Bible, examining it daily.  It is a great book.  You will find comfort, hope, encouragement, and even some guidelines about morality.  Most importantly, you will find in those pages the message of salvation, that God, even knowing of our sinfulness, that we willing listen to all sorts of other appealing voices over His Word, sent His only begotten Son to free us from that sin.  With His own flesh, Christ died to purchase forgiveness and grant us new life in in Him now, eternal life forever after  That’s some good news.

Let us pray:    We thank you Lord that you have given us Your Holy Scripture, that it is indeed profitable for reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, more importantly that it declares and points us always to Jesus, your Christ. Help me, by Your Spirit’s guidance to search it and examine it daily, and meditate upon it without ceasing. Amen.

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