Monday, May 03, 2010

2010 – May 3 – Having the Inside Track

Study from God’s Word Psalm 119 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 119: 97 – 100 … NIV 97 Oh, how I love Your Law! I meditate on it all day long. 98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. 100 I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.

My Journal for Today: Dr. Smith is right; and it’s not an exaggeration that “… everyone wants to be ‘in the know.’ “ Who doesn’t want to have the inside track on life supposedly offered by more education? That’s why parents push their kids to learn and to go to schools which will give them the opportunity to learn what it takes to be productive, and – hopefully – fulfilled, in this life. And the knowledge – well, at least the facts and practical information – which one can accumulate these days is proliferating at such a pace that there appears no way we can get all of what we need to be productive citizens of the world.

BUT (and there’s another one of those big “BUTs”), … that’s not the goal of the Christian, is it? We’re not into the education game of life just to get more information, are we? No, as the author of the longest psalm in the Bible understood and the truth we Christians need to grasp is that there is only one source of information which gives us the “inside track” in life; and that is what we know of as the “Book of the Law,” which is what the author of Psalm 119 called what we know of as “The Bible.”

Some like the songwriter of Psalm 119 was David; but this long acrostic poetry was not really his style of songwriting. Nobody really knows the actual author of this great song of faith. But whoever it was, the dude really had an absolute love affair going on with God’s word (as he knew it); and he had somehow gleaned the insight that mining in God’s word would give him the power and wisdom he needed to live out life and have the kind of knowledge which would bring him a joy-filled, fruitful, and productive life.

Job learned that lesson too; and you can read about God teaching him this truth lesson in Chapter 28 of the Book of Job. And by doing both of these studies, you can’t miss – unless you deny it – that God’s word (all of it – see 2nd Tim. 3: 16 – 17) is the repository of all the knowledge and understanding which will give us what we need to live out what the Old Testament says in Prov. 3: 5 - 6 and in the New Testament in what Paul taught about God’s word in that verse I just cited above (again 2nd Tim. 3: 16-17).

Well, if this is true; and devouring God’s word gives Christians the inside track on living out our lives, why is the level of biblical illiteracy growing in epidemic proportions? Well, the answer to that lies in the nature of our spiritual enemies. And one of those, Satan, will do all he can to con us into thinking that the wisdom of the world (our second enemy) is superior and more appealing than the essence of truth in the Bible. And Satan and the world have devised a way of producing very seductive mechanisms for gleaning information in great volumes, most of which will only lead us away from THE TRUTH we really need in life – which, again, is found in the Bible. Think of all the devices these days which are out there in the world drawing our attention away from God’s truth … TV, the Internet, I-phones, I-pads, I-whatevers. And isn’t interesting that all of the latter ones begin with the letter “I,” showing us where the focus of all these mind altering devices really is – on self, which is really our worst spiritual enemy.

If we don’t make a decision to discipline ourselves to consume God’s word, taking it in with such motivation to let God transform us and move us away from Satan, the world, and our own flesh, we will become “I” junkies; and we will miss out on the one source of truth which can allow us to become productive and fruitful Christians. I know it’s not alluring to use a computer to dig into the mine of God’s mind; but it will be far more productive that using that same device to glean knowledge from the ploys of Satan in such mind altering ventures as gaming, pornography, or even worldly education.

Yes, a computer and the internet can actually become mining tools into God’s word; but the belief just has to be there to understand that the mine we need to be digging into is God’s word … not some mind-numbing place like pornography or in the news of the day from the world. I had a friend that believed that the key to his mental, emotional, and spiritual future could be found in the out-working of what Paul taught, from God’s inspiration, in Romans 12: 1 – 2; and to that I would add God’s lesson to Joshua [and all of us] in Joshua 1: 8. Hopefully you know these truths by heart; but if not go back and mediate on the direction to which they are leading; and you will learn of God leading us to use His word, … consuming it as the lover of Psalm 119 taught … so as to let God’s Spirit conform us into the image of our Lord and Savior, … Jesus, the Christ.

But each of us has to decide to pursue God’s truth through His word for His purposes; and that takes time and mind-altering discipline. Are you one who will follow me – as I’m attempting to learn/teach here – in doing this? If you do, you’re going to find what I have found; and you’ll become addicted to the pursuit of the true riches found in God’s word.

My Prayer for Today: Take me deep, Lord, into Your mind as I mine for the wisdom You have there for all willing to dig after it. Amen

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