The Bible tells me so! (Pt.2)

(Part 2)

“Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.”-1 Thessalonians 2:13

When we receive God’s Word, as the very word of God, it will affect the way that we live. However, if we choose to be selective regarding what we will receive and respond to, then we will bear the consequences of choosing to step outside the protection and direction of God’s authority.

The motto adopted by the Police Academy is to protect and to serve. Most people recognize police officers as authority figures, however, the Word of God is designed to protect and serve us; yet we reject it’s authoritative reach into our lives.

Here is an interesting concept, if I am driving the speed limit and pass a police officer, the will simply wave and keep on going. When I speed past them, breaking the law, they come after me and reward me with a ticket for my disobedience. We cannot claim ignorance when we have chosen to ignore the directives that have been given us. Real authority has the latitude to bring correction, which means that something or someone is only a real authority is your life if you allow it to correct you. If you have no authority to correct you, you are only subject to yourself.

 Author Ken Ham once said, “When you abandon the absolute authority of God’s Word, anything goes.” This begs the question: What guides your morality in the absence of an  authority in your life?

This is the exact scenario that afflicted the Israelites in the book of Judges:

“After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel.”-Judges 2:10

Although God was an authoritative figure in Moses and Joshua’s generation, the generation that followed them refused to acknowledge Him. In doing so, they became only subject to themselves:

“In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.”-Judges 21:25

That is the definition of chaos! Not only did they reject God as their authority, but they had no earthly king either. They simply did as they pleased. They lived according to their own pleasures, wants, and desires.

God’s Word is not simply a compilation of good ideas, but it is the will of God recorded to bring transformation to our lives. One commentator wrote this and I think it is very fitting for us to consider:

“Jesus accepted the absolute authority of the written word over His life. His whole life was shaped by what God caused to be written before He was born.”

God’s Word shaped Jesus’ life! Are you allowing it to shape yours?

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church