Journey of the Word

Your news feed, like everyone else’s, has been bombarded with Planned Parenthood videos, school shootings, political debates, “coming out,” and all the rest.

What’s the first thought that comes into your mind? By what means do you think, and by what means do you formulate a response?

If they haven’t already, someone is likely to ask you your opinion on holidays, modesty, social drinking, sexual purity, Internet usage, political involvement, the Sabbath, and entertainment {to name a few}.

How do you possibly form a position statement on any given issue? Whom do you listen to first?

At some point in your very human life, you’ve considered housing and insurance options, how many kids you’ll have, what vacations you’ll take, and what you’ll eat for dinner.

When you think about the stuff of life, what is your starting point?

The decisions never end. Which career to pursue, how much money to spend, whom you should marry and how you should go about “finding” that person, which church you should attend, whether or not you should accept the position, whom or what should educate your kids.

What leads you to the conclusions you make? Those things that are fundamentals for you – where did they come from?

And then there are the “why’s.” Surely you’ve considered why bad things happen to “good” people, why life is so painful, why more marriages crumble than don’t, why people can’t seem to find a decent method for running for office, why cars cost so much, why people stare at screens a great part of their day, and how Starbucks tricks so many people into spending hard-earned money on nasty stuff that destroys their bodies. {Never mind that last one was a “how” . . . we know why they do it.}

At any rate, the question at hand is:

Why do you believe the way you do and live the way you do, and how did you get there?

And my point is:

There are a gazillion different ways you could get there, but there is only One good, reliable, and joyous way.

And it’s not {may I repeat – not} looking at your given belief or way of life and asking, “What does the Bible have to say about this?”

No. Not okay.

Because such a method demands that you already believe this or that and live one way or another . . . and then you take a moment to check up on the Bible’s viewpoint. 

Rather, your lifestyle and beliefs must not exist until God has spoken.

It’s the difference between:
1} “Why do cars cost so much? Maybe I’ll just walk. Or buy a clunker and skip out on insurance. Wait – maybe the Bible says something about that . . .”
2} “I wonder what the Bible says regarding cars and insurance.” {And now you can wonder without thinking about prices and expectations and desires and obligations.}

It’s the difference between:
1} “I think dating should look like this, but I want to go by what the Bible says, so . . .”
2} “I wonder what the Bible says about dating.” {Ah. Now you can begin to formulate your standard.}

It’s the difference between:
1} “My wife wants three children, but I’m willing to have more, so we’ll have to read the Bible and see if we can come up with a compromise . . .”
2} “I wonder what the Bible says about children and how many a Christian ought to have.” {Period. No other thoughts play into it first.}

It’s the difference between:
1} “Halloween shouldn’t be avoided altogether. There’s nothing wrong with cute pumpkins and kids in costumes. We’ll ignore the gruesome stuff. Because the Bible probably approves that idea . . .”
2} “I wonder what the Bible says about holidays, and Halloween, and death.” {Cultural expectations and peer pressure are of no account.}

It’s the difference between:
1} “Hmm, those videos of Planned Parenthood. Horrific. Sure deserves to be defunded, if you ask me. That a company in America would be allowed to do a thing like this . . . We must speak up against this atrocity. What other choice do we have? I mean, the Bible’s pretty clear about that, right?”
2} “I wonder what the Bible says about the unborn child, and the care of such, and the running of a company, and the proper response to evil.” {Blank drawing board.}

The difference is simply, Your thoughts must not be until God’s thoughts are.

And that’s a big difference.

 [image credit: pixabay.com]