Wednesday Thought -- November 9, 2011

Good Morning Friends,

“And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.  For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus:  You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out.  They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved.  In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit.  The wrath of God has come upon them at last.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13-16)

When I calculate my income taxes each year, I read the instructions and the rules behind them carefully.  I’m looking for loopholes and extra deductions that I wasn’t aware of before.  Sometimes I find some new legal and ethical ways to reduce my tax liability.  After all, laws are written by men and sometimes they miss some things and you can find ways around them.

I got a traffic ticket once that I didn’t think I deserved.  I decided to fight it in court.  It took several months for the case to come before the judge.  When the date finally arrived I was at the defendant’s table and another driver was at the prosecutor’s table as the only witness to my crime.  When the judge called for his testimony, he couldn’t remember what he’d seen that day and turned to me asking for a reminder.  I kept quiet and the judge quickly brought the case to a close -- finding me innocent.  In that situation, my guilt or innocence wasn’t the issue that was decided, it was a technicality -- no reliable witness -- that doomed the prosecution.  That’s O.K., it was just a man-made law -- loopholes and technicalities are all it takes to get around them.

And some people approach the scriptures with the same kind of attitude.  They look for loopholes and technicalities.  They are looking for ways to get around what the Bible teaches.  Such people approach the Bible as though it was the word of men, but it’s not!  Loopholes and technicalities don’t apply when it’s the word of God.  The Thessalonians understood that.  They recognized God’s word -- and they responded with the right kind of attitude.  Now, there is a good example for us to follow!

His, by Grace,

Steve