IS YOUR SWEET TOOTH ALIVE AND WELL? PAUL, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope. To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the divine training that is in faith; whereas the aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith. Certain persons by swerving from these have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions. {St. Pauls First Letter to Timothy 1:1-7} Pauls instructions seem simple: Stay where you are, and keep the people on the straight and narrow, because certain people in your congregation seem prone to stray. I once had a Christian brother very sincerely (and very errantly) declare, Im so full of the Holy Ghost that I dont even need to read my Bible anymore! After I recovered from the dizziness of my head spinning around and round, I realized that his comment might have been more brazen than most, but his mindset was not unusual. There are many people in The Church today who believe as this brother did, that having experienced the Baptism in the Holy Spirit means that they can forever leave their Bibles on the bookshelf. And they are absolutely wrong! The world in which we live is a very dark place indeed. Many people routinely recite, Psalm 119:105, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. This great verse reminds us that we cannot find our way in the dark without keeping the light on. But singling out this verse is to miss its MUCH GREATER CONTEXT. Lets look at the verses that precede it. {97} O how love I Thy Law! it is my meditation all the day. The Law of The Lord is to be our meditation ALL THE DAY! How can this be done without reading it? Maybe put the Bible under our pillows and absorb it by osmosis while we sleep? I think not! {98} Thou through Thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. The enemy of our souls knows the Scriptures. If we think he wont twist them up in our minds, we are sorely mistaken. He even tried this trick with Jesus in the desert. And, if he wasnt afraid to try to trick Jesus, he wont hesitate a moment in tricking us. We must allow The Word to be so deeply imbedded in our spirits that we recognize the twist! {99} I have more understanding than all my teachers: for Thy testimonies are my meditation. Here I recall a famous quote by Albert Einstein, Its not that Im so smart, its just that I stay with problems longer. In this verse, Thy testimonies are the Old Testament stories of the patriarchs, prophets, and judges. Ideally, EACH generation builds up in the understanding of the ones before it. However, in the last few generations, much has been lost as the emphasis on Biblical education has given way to liberal ideology and ungodly pursuits. {100}. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. As I said above, that was true of previous generations. But OUR generation has a lot of lost ground to make up! {101}. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep Thy Word. Knowing the Word helps us to refrain from every evil way. How can we keep The Word if we dont know what it is? {102} I have not departed from Thy judgments: for Thou hast taught me. For THOU hast taught me: The Word of God TEACHES us, in order that we dont depart from GODs judgments! When an idea comes into our mind, we MUST weigh that idea against SCRIPTURE in order to discern whether it came from The HOLY Spirit or from some OTHER spirit! {103}. How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! If we are being led by The HOLY Spirit, we will have a desire to read the Scripture that is akin to having a sweet tooth: an almost insatiable desire for MORE AND MORE understanding, that we may daily draw closer to Our Lord. If a persons attitude toward the Bible is, I can take it or leave it, The HOLY Spirit is not their Source! {104}. Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. When we have that sweet tooth desire to understand the things of God, counterfeits are detestable to us. Imagine that your teacher gives you a beautiful piece of candy, but tells you you cant eat it until after school. All day long, you think about it. Finally, the bell rings. You anxiously unwrap it. With great anticipation, into your mouth it goes...and then...YUCK! Its not peppermint after all! It tastes like vinegar! Thats how false teachings taste to The Holy Spirit-filled believer! {105} Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. This wonderful verse beautifully sums up the whole passage. I hope that this exegesis of the surrounding verses has broadened your understanding of it, at least a little. While most folks quote verse 105 as a stand-alone verse, the passage doesnt end there. It continues into, {106}. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep Thy righteous judgments. This is an important verse, that exposes a fact often lost to Western Christianity. I believe it was Spurgeon who said, A man will commit only to that to which he is converted. Properly taught, the Sinners Prayer should contain an OATH, to forsake sin and follow Christ AT ALL COSTS. A sacred oath between man and God. We are seeing that play out in the persecution of Syrian and Iraqi Christians who are being tortured and executed because they REFUSE TO DENY their Oath of Acceptance to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Proverbs 14:12 tells us that There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. If we dont stay faithfully in The Word, we are left to the vanity of our own imaginings. The Holy Spirit awakens in us that sweet tooth for The Word. In closing, I leave you with the wisdom of two previous generations: Too many Christians have a commitment of convenience. Theyll stay faithful as long as its safe and doesnt involve risk, rejection, or criticism. Instead of standing alone in the face of challenge or temptation, they check to see which way their friends are going. [Rev C F Stanley], and Ill give the last word the Reverend Billy Graham, who said, Make sure of your commitment to Jesus Christ, and seek to follow Him every day. Dont be swayed by the false values and goals of this world, but put Christ and His Will first in everything you do.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 06:59:09 +0000
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