Search Out These Things

Sunday, in our church bulletins, was a pamphlet for a Crisis Pregnancy Center event. On it was part of Deut 30:19-20.(NIV)

"...choose life, so that you and your children may live...For the LORD is your life..."

As I looked at that verse, written NOT in it's entirety and NOT in a true context, I began to think about how common this is--using scripture this way, and how often we alter God's word for our own purposes. Maybe most don't consider this "altering" His word, but it doesn't exactly seem "honest" when abortion, or even the pro-life movement is NOT what this verse is speaking of. I'm sure they might think, "Oh, well this doesn't hurt! It's for a good cause." Hmmm.

Here stands Moses, speaking to the wandering Israelites and giving them the low down. Either you choose life and blessings by honoring and obeying God, or you are choosing death! With obedience, you get the Promised Land. Without it, your life will be cut short. Pretty simple. But don't take my word for it. Search it out for yourself. Here are the actual verses:

" I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him, for He is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."

Maybe the folks who put the pamphlet together can justify the use of this verse because, obviously, if we are honoring and obeying God, we won't be killing unborn babies, but it still made me think. It made me open my Bible and read and see if what was being said was correct.

I am realizing more and more just how primary, yet little thought of, one of the lessons the early believers taught us, is: Search out these things daily.
Acts 17:11 says,

"Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so."

This verse is part of a passage that tells us that there were some Jews who knew the words of God and searched them daily, so when they heard about Jesus, they believed. They'd read the prophesies, they knew God through His word, so they recognized the Messiah. But they were only a few, because only a few were "more noble". But don't take my word for it. Search it out for yourself.

How often we "hear" God's word. Preachers, Bible studies, CPC pamphlets--even Bible Commentaries!! How often we do a Bible Study that uses a verse here, a verse there, and we take the speaker or author's "word for it" instead of searching these things out for ourselves. We are lazy and we "trust". We HOPE that no one would steer us wrong when speaking of the things of God, we don't even give it a thought, and we don't take the time to check. We rely on all feeding to come from another person. As a result, I believe we remain stagnant in our learning and growth in Christ. A lot of times, we wouldn't know the "truth" if it his us in the face.

If we are to truly know His word, we have to be searching out all things in it. We need to open it and read it. We need to hide His word in our hearts. We need to do it daily. We need to read it all, not just a verse here, and a verse there. Front to back, it is one story, with Christ on every single page!

It wasn't until about a year ago that I had a revelation. I was reading the Bible more than I was watching TV! We'd gotten rid of cable, and were only renting movies. For the first time in my life, I was beginning to really learn and be in, the word of God. More than TV.

My prayer is that I always will. That I'll always remain in Him and His word--searching out all things in the light of His word. My prayer is that you will too.

Don't take mere men's word for anything!

Search it out for yourself.

"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." Deut. 29:29