What is God Telling Us?

Are you cheating on your taxes? Many taxpayers would honestly answer, “I hope not, that’s why I hire an accountant.” The tax code is complicated enough that it is difficult to know which deductions are allowed and which ones are not, so the interpretation of the code is often left to the professionals.-There is a parallel in the area of Scripture. Many Christians are like their taxpayer counterparts, thinking that believing the Bible is beyond comprehension, and to be left to the professionals to interpret. Is that the correct approach to take?-From the time the first books of the Old Testament were given, even children were to study and learn them. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 commands, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” Paul was able to encourage Timothy concerning the Word of God, because he had learned as a child. “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 3:15 -The writer of the book of Hebrews encourages the reader to move beyond the basic understanding of the Bible that is gained in childhood, and to reach the point of actually being able to understand it well enough to teach it. “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Hebrews 5:12-In other words, the Scripture must be used so it can be understood and taught. It must be studied. 2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”-Notice that the passage says ‘rightly dividing the word of truth’ and that it also warns about not being ashamed. The call to interpret the Scripture correctly is an important admonition. Still the challenge should not be neglected.-I believe one of the reasons why the challenge is often avoided is because of a misunderstanding of even how to interpret the Word of God. Some are intimidated because they do not realize that a reader is supposed to take the work of God quite literally. But aren’t there figures of speech and even symbolism in the Bible? Yes, of course, but they are to be read according to the rules of the normal use of language.-To clarify- what I am suggesting is that we are to take the Bible literally within the structure of the normal use of language which allows for figures of speech and symbolism. The context will clearly show when such devices are being used.-There is an approach that says that the Bible doesn’t really mean what it says and that the statements really symbolize some other truth that only the enlightened are able to divulge. If you have such a belief, then it would be easy to give up on studying the Bible, because how could you possible know what it had to say? You are thus at the mercy of whoever you happen to listen to and you have no way of knowing if they just made it all up.-On the other hand, if you believe that the Bible means what it says, that means that you actually have to study it to understand it. Spiritualizing the words is actually the lazy way out for the preacher. He can either make things up or just repeat what someone else has come up with. But if the words really mean what they say, that means that the preacher has to both explain them as they are and deal with supposed contradictions. By the way, a preacher who really trusts that the Bible came from God is not worried about contradictions. He knows that God does not contradict, so there has to be an explanation. Some are easier to explain than others. Some may not find a ready explanation, but that never gives us the right to say that the Bible says something different than what it says.-Many of the problems vanish when verses are simply read in the context of their surroundings- both the context of time and setting as well as the context of words. That means as a Christian, studies the Bible, they should also be studying about the setting of the original audience. For example if the book of II Timothy is to be taken literally it is helpful to know that it is written to a leader in the church of Ephesus during the first century A.D. -On the other hand, if that book is nothing but a spiritual allegory, why even bother going to all the work of finding out about the background of the book because it doesn’t really mean what it is saying anyway? This approach ends up minimizing the significance of the Word of God.-God is not the author of confusion. He wants us to both understand and to obey His word.

Get To Work

One of the things that I admire about small town America it the work ethic. I just finished talking to my cousin, and he was upset about a coworker who was going to do as little on the job as he could because he had union job security. We live in a society were it seems more and more people are taking without giving anything back. It is sad when a man who doesn’t want to work hard cannot be fired, and when someone who does not want to work at all can have most of their needs met through government programs. My wife recently read that in some states, government programs were offering free cell phone service for low income individuals. (These were not just emergency 911 phones either). I have no problem with low income people having cell phones- I am one of them- I just do not believe someone else should pay for it.
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What happened to the idea that we should work for what we get instead of looking for free handouts? Some might say that what I am suggesting is an old fashioned idea. I will agree, the idea of a work ethic is quite old fashioned, because it comes straight from God. The Scripture goes so far as to say that if a man doesn’t work, he should not eat. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 says, “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”
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That is a pretty bold statement. If anything is a necessity, it would be food, yet the Scripture makes it clear that free food is not to be available to those in the church who are unwilling to work. Consider that there are those who have real needs. How immoral would it be to let a widow starve because all the available resources had been given to those who were just too lazy to work. Even as we consider helping out widows, we are given specific instructions in I Timothy 5, so that those most deserving of the help get what is available.
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Man has been expected to work ever since he was created. Even before Adam sinned, God gave him work to do. “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” Genesis 2:15. God did this even before he commanded Adam not to eat of the forbidden fruit. Work is not a punishment of sin, it is just part of what man was made to do. In fact, there are few things as fulfilling to man as an honest days work. The big secret is that work is fun. If that is part of what we were created for, why shouldn’t it be?
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But lets face it, work can be hard. Certain aspects of an enjoyable job are not so much fun. This is a part of the consequence of sin. Because of sin, man would have to sweat for his food, instead of having easy work to get it. Genesis 3:19 clarifies, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
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Even during hard times-especially during hard times- work is still the best way to prevent poverty. Proverbs 24:33-34 warns, “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.” Proverbs 20:13 says as well, “Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.” In hard times, we recognize that a job may not be as easy to find as it was before, but the harder you work, the more likely you will be to have and keep a job. Further, if even a hard worker cannot find a job, this should remind us not be so prideful in our work ethic that we forget to trust God and lean on Him for help. That trust in Him should not be an excuse for becoming a sluggard though.
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Instead of being lazy, we should follow the example of the hard working ant. “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:” Proverbs 6:6. Sadly, a lazy man will come up with all kinds of excuses why he cannot work. Proverbs 20:4 shows little patience for such excuses, “The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.” If you keep making excuses for not working, do not be surprised if you end up with nothing. Proverbs 13:4 is clear, “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.”
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If you have not been working and are not sure how to get started, try doing what I did at a time that I was without a job. I showed up a the job site and told the potential employer that I was willing to work for him for free for the first day so that he could see if he wanted to hire me. I had a job by mid morning the first day I went job hunting.
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I am not guaranteeing a high paying job, but if we are satisfied with having our basic needs met (1 Timothy 6:8 “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content”) there are still plenty of opportunities for those willing and able to work. “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.” Ephesians 4:28