12/15/2017
Do you read a simple devotional each morning? Is it one that speaks the truth to you in an interesting new way, or one that takes what is comfortable for you and bends the truth to fit it? Finding the right author who doesn’t caudal our humanity at the peril of our spirituality is the struggle... for both the author, who might be doing harm to God’s Word, and ourselves, as we accept a possibly false premise and feel comfortable in its fallacy.
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15 ESV
Reading devotional messages can make the Bible come alive, and can give us a view on scripture that allows us to grasp it as we see it offered in terms of our own life. Sometimes the author allows us to borrow his words as he expresses a truth that we have been struggling to put into words of our own, but there is danger in this as well.
Over the course of my life there have been places that I have looked to when I was about to form an opinion of a new product or before selecting a purchase. These aids give us confidence, and allow us to make decisions about our everyday life with some degree of comfort. You probably do the same as you look to such sources as the “GoodHousekeeping Seal of Approval”, the “Kelly Blue Book” for automobiles, or “Consumer’s Report” for a broad swath of items. When we are dealing with spiritual ideologies and interpretations we need a similar source of approval. We need to lean on the Word of God itself, prayer, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is also good to seek out several established commentaries to determine commonly accepted thought.
“But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,”
2 Timothy 2:16 ESV
Second Timothy speaks some words of warning to pastors, other religious workers who relate God’s Word to someone, and devotional authors as well, but this also impacts us personally. We should find a challenge in these words as individuals; I am not referring to what we say to others, but in what we read, hear, and allow to modify our own view of scripture... our understanding of God’s Word... our Theology. Oswald Chambers warns us of this when he writes these words:
“The author who benefits you most is not the one who tells you something you did not know before, but the one who gives expression to the truth that has been dumbly struggling in you for utterance.” - Oswald Chambers
Theology is the study of God and religious belief, but when someone refers to “their theology”, they are referring to a very specific view of God and the religious truths, and approach, that they themselves base their own faith on. There is danger in theologies, but there is irrefutable truth and safety in God’s Word.
This year I have been reading “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers, and loosely basing my writing on where this daily offering has taken me. I sought out this devotional after careful consideration, and yet there were still some entries that I couldn’t agree with; that I took exception to. This is how we should ingest spiritual thought... mull it over, and then weigh it against the Word of God, and those other resources I spoke of earlier. It is our responsibility to make the determination; is this something I believe to be true, is this something I take exception to scripturally, or perhaps... is this something that has opened my eyes to a previously unseen truth and modifies my own theology?
Last year I read, and wrote about, “The Power of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds, and for the coming year I have chosen “The Andrew Murray Daily Reader.” You are welcome to read along with me, but at the very least you will know where my thoughts each morning are being birthed. Correctly selecting a devotional book, or, as some have referred to my writing as “mini-lessons” for our daily reading can enrich us spiritually. They can move us quickly into scriptural thought and jumpstart our day’s journey into faith, but just as with any journey we take, there are decisions we must make... do I believe this to be the way to go? Are the directions I have been given correct, and will they lead me closer to my destination.
I invite you to travel with me over the coming year, but I also ask that you not simply follow along, but become a fellow traveler... insuring that you believe in the way I have proposed each day.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for leading me on a journey of faith through your Word, and providing me with your Holy Spirit to serve as my guide. I thank you for those who write devotional messages that help guide my thought each day, but I also thank you for giving me spiritual insight that makes my journey a personal one based in your truth, and how you would will me to walk. Lead me Father; allow me to walk as if to Emmaus with Jesus Christ as my fellow traveler, and steadfast companion. Give me discernment Father that keeps me ever on the right path, and let your Holy Word be the one true roadmap that I ultimately follow. Excursions are exciting Father, but always bring me back to the main road I should walk, and that will insure my successful arrival at where you await me. On my arrival I will shout and sing your praises, I will rejoice in a successful journey and sit at your table as we discuss the details of the trip... Great are you Holy Father, and greatly are you to be praised!
Rich Forbes