2 Timothy 3-4 (NLT link)
Discover His heart: He has given His inspired Word to provide truth and to equip
@ 2 Timothy 3
A couple of years ago I was packing up my library, getting ready for a move. It was quite a trip down memory lane as I recalled the history involved around many of my book selections. I came to one shelf dedicated to books on diet and health and started to laugh. The number of different approaches to diet and health over the past quarter century is staggering – eat according to your blood type, eat protein and no carbs, eat carbs and no protein, eat only uncooked vegetables, eat eight times a day (my personal favorite), eat nothing white, eat nothing with a face – just to name a few diet choices. Each one was based on its own brand of truth.
One year the scuttlebutt was that drinking coffee would kill you. Two years later it was touted as a great antioxidant that would improve health in many ways. I have chosen, of course, to believe the second truth. It amazes me how truth seems to change from one year to the next. Be assured that many of these books did not make it to the keep box.
Another shelf in my library was filled with many different versions, sizes and colors of the same book. It is a book that’s truth has not changed since its words were written millenniums ago, every copy I have is a keeper and that book, of course, is the Holy Bible. In 2 Timothy 3, Paul validated the Scripture that comprises our Bible and shared its function, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” (16-17)
While some may take and twist the sacred words of the Bible, we can always depend on the Bible itself to be inspired by God and to be true. Coupled with the great truth bearer, the Holy Spirit, the Bible is alive to us and gives us the specific truth we will need for each day. (Hebrews 4:12) It equips us for the day with whatever tools we may need to navigate through this life, correcting us when needed, and helps us do what He wants us to do. What a book!
The Israelites may have had their pillar of cloud and fire to guide them, but we have the truth from God’s Holy Word to guide us, inspire us and equip us. Can we afford to miss even one day of receiving the truth He has for us? Not really.
Moving Forward: Reading His Word today, grabbing His truth and moving forward to do His good works.
Tomorrow @ Numbers 13-16
Phyllis Benigas 