How are we going to figure out solutions to the prickly problems we face today?
How will we resolve the conflicts that threaten to undo us?
How will we get through the maze without giving up at so many dead ends?
Questions we’re all asking.
Before God created the world and everything in it, he must have had a plan—surely! He knew the Fall was coming. He knew that would leave his people lost without direction. He knew some would choose to follow him (imperfectly) and some would defect.
In the days following the Exodus from Egypt, God led his people in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. He fed them bread from heaven—manna appeared every morning. God’s leading them and feeding them were supernatural happenings. They were miraculous physical manifestations of God’s love and care. They were God’s consistent provision day-in and day-out.
But that didn’t keep the people from grumbling. They were tired of the same old, same old. They wanted something new. It’s easy to criticize those ungrateful people. God gave them everything they needed and it wasn’t enough.
Fast forward a few thousand years and here we are in the same boat in a different stream. God leads us and feeds us by way of a miraculous Book that he preserved for us over the centuries. The book is everything we need for life and godliness provided through God’s divine power (2 Peter 1:3). Through his Word he leads us step-by-step and feeds us day-by-day.
But we’re just as fickle as our ancestors. We want something else. We want a new Savior, a different book—we’ve already read that one! We want something more sophisticated, or at least updated. We want God to lead us and feed us with fresh ideas. I catch myself thumbing through my Bible looking for some new truth.
News Flash—there is no new truth. In fact, there is nothing new under the sun—same problems, same solutions. The Book covers them all.
When we dismiss the Bible as archaic remedies, inadequate for our modern world, we devalue God’s provision and disrespect his methods. The Bible is no less a miraculous provision than God leading and feeding the Israelites.
The problem is with us. We have grown stale. We have drifted off course. We have dug our own ditch and are stuck in it. And we’re hearing echoes of the serpent’s lie that God’s Word is not to be taken seriously.
So when we return from the latest seminar Ten Tips for a Better Life, and when we give up our web search for innovative insights to the mess we’re in, the Book will be waiting where we left it—still relevant, consistent and unchanging.
Love to hear your feedback and pushback.
I couldn’t agree more! I love growing in knowledge & trust of God as I meditate on His Word and commit it to memory. But so often my tired mind wants to wander and resort to meditating on lesser things, worldly things, “easier” things. I have been learning to press into the truth in God’s Word and let it really soak in, transform my thinking and redefine my human & cultural reactions, even when it first strikes me as too difficult to take in.
I agree and so simply stated, this is a dangerous time and Biblical illiteracy is astounding – I attend a great Church, however I notice with the verses on the “screen” who brings a Bible to Church – no note taking – I am surprised when I look down the row and maybe see one other person, with a Bible and notebook – this is just sad, I too have been guilty, yes I think I need the latest Christian how to book – wrong – I recently just stopped purchasing the “new Christian book” and cleared my book shelf – with the Bible – and I love the way God opens my mind and heart with scripture memory, I am memorizing 1 John and cannot believe all the insights and love Jesus has for me, as I slow down to “hear” His Word with my heart
I agree 100%, I used to be guilty of this all the time. Some might say I did this because I was a new convert at the time and so didn’t understand how to use the Bible in this way… still, it would have been a better idea to just read and memorize it than to buy every Christian book I could find and read every Christian website out there… As I learned the hard way, not everyone who claims to be teaching the true faith actually is. Over the years, I have learned to search the Scriptures like the Bereans (Acts 17:10-11) on issues, and I’ve never been steered wrong by this. This doesn’t mean I never read a Christian book other than the Bible, only that I make sure to focus on books that will help me grow in faith (like the spiritual classics, books to help memorization, and anything that makes me more aware of our current cultural landscape). But my main focus is studying and memorizing rather than learning from the interpretation of some random modern author. When I do read someone’s advice, I search the Scriptures to see if what the author says is true.
Thanks Josh, that’s a good reminder that there’s nothing wrong with reading Christian books (some of them are excellent) but don’t let that be a substitute for time in God’s Word which is our real food.