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#Truth Devotional – Day 4

Read the Bible

2 Timothy 3:16-4:5b

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”

Because the Bible is given by inspiration of God it is profitable. It teaches us the truth about God and states the kind of moral conduct God requires of us. It is profitable for doctrine, for instruction and for correction.

I believe we are living in the days right now that this passage of scripture identifies: “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

People are turning away from the truth that is found in The Bible. Instead they are listening to teachers who agree with their distorted point of view. Indeed churches and whole church denominations are turning away from the truth given to us in the Bible, dismissing it as irrelevant to today’s culture and ignoring the parts that condemn the sinful behaviour that they claim is acceptable.

We need to be open to correction. Indeed The Bible is meant to be used to correct and rebuke as well as to build up and encourage. We need to be told when we are heading for the cliff edge – this is the most loving and right thing to do. Cheering someone on down the wrong path that results in their death is not the sort of love Jesus preached about.

Step 1 – So how do we get to know the truth that God has given us to live by? Simply, we need to read it. We need to read The Bible. Don’t just rely on what others say about it, or their interpretation of it. Read, study and wrestle with the scriptures yourself.

Step 2 – Don’t just read The Bible but do what is says. A driver on a motorway is not safe when he simply reads the signs on the road, but only when he actually does what they say!

However, simply reading the Bible and trying to do what it says is not enough on its own for us to know real, genuine TRUTH. We are still at risk of being led astray as we can see in the ministries of some preachers who are twisting the truth to conform to their version of what is ‘good’.

There is another vital component for us to be able to discern genuine truth. This is knowing the person of truth himself – Jesus. We will look at this more closely in the next session of this devotional series.

 

Prayer – Jesus, help me to read and understand The Bible. Help me to believe what it says and enable me to do what is says. I can only do this with your power and strength working inside me. – please help me. Amen

 

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