Monthly Archives: April 2012

Here is a phrase frequently attributed to members of the medical profession: “Take two tablets and call me in the morning!”  Well, the Great Physician has something similar to say to all of us, “Take two tablets and call me anytime!”  Coming from a doctor, this would be called your daily medication; from the Great Physician, this can be called your daily meditation.

With countless voices vying for our attention throughout the day—radio voices, television voices, advertising voices, friend voices, co-worker voices, family voices, our own internal voice—it is critical that we spend time each day meditating on the only voice that really matters: the voice of Truth (John 14:6).

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  (John 1:1-3, 14)

Initially, when we think of the Law, we recall the two tablets of the Law that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai.  This is good and right, because the Author of Life knows the best way for His people to live life and gave us His Ten Commandments as our guide.  As my friend Steve Brown likes to say, “The Ten Commandments tell us where the land mines are located.”  In other words, God’s Ten Commandments guide us safely through this life as pilgrims passing through on the way to the Celestial City.  But we are never to camp out at the base of Mount Sinai, because all Scripture is to be read, studied, and meditated on for our profit and our progress.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.  (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

So . . . how much time have you been spending in the Word of God?  I don’t ask this to frustrate you, or to cause you to feel like you are falling behind or even failing.  A question like this is simply designed to get us to examine ourselves and see if we are on track or off track—the track that God has called us to run our race on.  We must remember that God could easily have left it up to the Holy Spirit to encourage, inspire, motivate, teach, and train us . . . but He did not!  He gave us His holy, infallible, inspired, and inerrant Word, contained in a book called the Bible so we would read it.  Let me say something quite profound:

THE BOOK YOU DON’T READ . . . WON’T HELP!

Now, reading good books and magazines can be enjoyable, and even quite profitable.  God delivers truth in a variety of ways and through a variety of different means.  But these resources should never take the place of God’s Word.  If you miss the next best-selling novel that hits the book shelf or anniversary issue of some magazine, your life probably won’t suffer.  But if you miss the Word of God, life not only suffers, it begins to spiral out of control.

As a pastor, it’s not uncommon to hear people say that portions of the Bible are hard to read and even harder to understand, so they stay in the shallow waters of the familiar.  Sure, some portions of Scripture are not easy to understand, but Jesus calls us to venture out into the deep waters of His truth.  As we do, the Spirit of God will illuminate us to understand and apply that truth.  Jesus promised His disciples (and that includes you) that the Holy Spirit would come and “guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).

And the most important truth is Jesus!  The entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, tells the story of Jesus—how God in Christ came into this world to save sinners.  This is the reason to read the revelation of our Redeemer.  This is the reason to be able to say of sacred Scripture, “I make it my guide by day and my pillow by night.”  By God’s grace, may this be our daily experience, regardless of the cost or circumstance.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Wikipedia relates that April Fools’ Day is celebrated annually in different countries around the world on April 1.  Sometimes referred to as All Fools’ Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but it is widely recognized and celebrated as a day marked by the commission of good-humored or otherwise funny jokes, hoaxes, and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, teachers, neighbors, work associates, etc. So, did anyone pull an April Fools’ Day prank on you yesterday?  Did you do it to anyone?

The Bible says nothing about an April Fools’ Day, but it plainly marks the contrast between the fool and the wise.  Throughout the book of Proverbs, the wise preacher Solomon draws a clear distinction between wisdom and foolishness.  The way of a fool always seems right in his own eyes.  He never asks for help, seeks counsel, or accepts advice.  The fool trusts in his faulty beliefs, false judgment, and faithless sense.  He has been bewitched by his corrupted, carnal reason to the point that he not only thinks he is the smartest man in the room, but he is convinced that he is the only smart man.  He thinks more highly of himself than he ought and believes he is a notch above the rest.  Scripture strongly warns us against this way of thinking:

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.  (Proverbs 12:15)

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.  (Proverbs 14:12)

Standing in direct opposition to the fool is the wise, and the Bible clearly describes the foundation upon which a wise life is to be built.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.  (Proverbs 1:7)

Where fools have no fear or reverence for the Lord, the wise build their lives upon it.  This fear of the Lord is not a cowering fear—fear that is absent of love, trust, and faith, and which causes men to run and hide from God.  That kind of fear leads down the road of dread and despair, the kind James tells us the demons have who know that there is only on God and shudder in terror (James 2:19).

The fear of the Lord that the Scriptures exhort the wise to possess is a fear that bows low before the Creator of the universe, marveling at the knowledge of His unconditional and sacrificial love, and recognizing Him as the only wise, good, and holy source of all that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable.  Jerry Bridges writes in The Joy of Fearing God regarding the proper attitude of a child to a parent: “Fearing one’s parents and knowing that they love you are not incompatible.”  He continues, “There was a time when committed Christians were known as God-fearing people.  This was a badge of honor.  But somewhere along the way we lost it.  Now the idea of fearing God, if thought of at all, seems like a relic from the past.”

As we embark on a new month, known at its onset for foolishness, we have a moment by moment choice to make: we can either be wise or be foolish . . . we can either bear the beautiful fruit of wisdom or the putrid fruit of foolishness.

So . . . when all is said and done at the end of April, what would you like said about all that you have done?  If we look to Jesus and not to ourselves, and if we lean into Jesus and not on our own understanding, our lives will be marked by wisdom.  The apostle Paul told us that Christ Jesus “has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30 NIV).

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!