“The holy Scriptures . . have given you wisdom to receive salvation.” 2 Timothy 3:15 NLT
“This Book will keep you from sin, but sin will keep you from this Book.”
My thoughts today are about “truth that saves.”
One of the few things of my father’s that I have and cherish is the Bible from which he preached. It is well worn. The leather cover thinned and its edges frayed. The pages are discolored with the years and use, and frequently marked with notes. After his death, I read what he had written in the front of his Bible while still a student in Central Bible College many years earlier, “This Book will keep you from sin, but sin will keep you from this Book.” What a young man wrote, a man of years found still to be true – as have I, and so will you. “I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against God.” Psalm 119:11 NIV. God’s Word is truth, like no other than claims to be.
Everyone has an opinion. It seems there is no scarcity of those. You may know something about a lot of things, but nobody knows everything about everything. Everyone thinks their opinion is right and thinks they know the right way. The Bible warns, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Proverbs 16:25 NKJV. That would be most tragic. You can be so very sincere, only to find later that you were sincerely wrong. You can be fully convinced, yet be without all of the facts.
You might have the facts, but miss the truth. Facts and truth are not always exactly the same. Facts change as circumstances do; truth does not. Life needs one inalterable, unfailing source of truth. The Bible – God’s Word – is that one accurate and trustworthy source of Truth. You disregard it to your own peril and loss.
God’s Word is wisdom that will become a “lamp to your feet and light for your path.” Psalm 119:105 NIV. The Bible shows you the way that is everlasting, empowers you to walk there, and promises the wisdom and blessing you will find when you do. The Bible is truth that cleanses the heart, schools the mind, directs the journey, gives light and life, and saves one’s soul.
God’s Word is both timely now and eternal forever, for the Bible says that though Heaven and earth were to pass away, God’s Word will forever remain. God’s Word must be central to your daily life, for as Job said, “I have treasured the words (of God) more than my daily bread.” Job 23:12 NIV.
My prayer for you today is that you will keep God’s Word treasured in your heart.