Words to Live By
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. ESV Hebrews 4:12-13
More than once I’ve heard people say that they just don’t understand the Bible. You’ve probably heard that same comment. The best observation I’ve heard regarding folks that make that comment came from Zig Ziglar. Zig says he’s convinced that “it’s not the parts they don’t understand that really bothers them.” And Zig is right.
I’ve been troubled lately by what I can only describe as a lack of biblical thinking—even among professing Christians; church goers if you will. It seems that all too often we relegate the bible to a position of importance in our lives as a fire extinguisher. That is, we know where it is in case of an emergency. And that’s unfortunate, because the bible is much more than an emergency tool; I’d go so far as to call it a life giving necessity. Our verse today describes it as being “sharper than any two-edged sword” and able to pierce to the inner most depths of our soul. Why then do we set it aside for emergency use only? Sadly, many people simply don’t want to know what the bible says for fear that it would crimp their plans. And quiet frankly, that attitude is more problematic than people who outright don’t a give a rip what the bible says; the latter being much less hypocritical than the former.
A friend of mine wrote a paper a few years ago on the sufficiency of scripture. As he worked on that paper, I think he practiced on me. We’d be talking about some everyday topic or issue and he’d say, with the slightest stutter, “Now Ken, lets think what the bible has to say about that.” And you know what, we could usually bring scripture to bear relatively quickly on whatever was weighing on our minds. In hindsight, I don’t mind the fact that he practiced on me because he made great strides in teaching me how to think biblically and approach every day issues with a Christian worldview. (By the way, John MacArthur edited a fine book titled Think Biblically! Recovering a Christian Worldview a few years back.) Now, I’m still learning how to think biblically—I’ve not arrived or mastered it by any stretch. But I do genuinely strive to think biblically.
The bible contains words to live by; words to guide us in our everyday lives. So, over the next several weeks we’ll look at what the bible has to say about some everyday issues. Perhaps it will cultivate a sincere desire in your heart to think biblically. No promises, but if you have a particular issue you’d like to see addressed in this column over the coming weeks, drop me an email and I’ll see what I can do. God bless.
-Ken Askew
More than once I’ve heard people say that they just don’t understand the Bible. You’ve probably heard that same comment. The best observation I’ve heard regarding folks that make that comment came from Zig Ziglar. Zig says he’s convinced that “it’s not the parts they don’t understand that really bothers them.” And Zig is right.
I’ve been troubled lately by what I can only describe as a lack of biblical thinking—even among professing Christians; church goers if you will. It seems that all too often we relegate the bible to a position of importance in our lives as a fire extinguisher. That is, we know where it is in case of an emergency. And that’s unfortunate, because the bible is much more than an emergency tool; I’d go so far as to call it a life giving necessity. Our verse today describes it as being “sharper than any two-edged sword” and able to pierce to the inner most depths of our soul. Why then do we set it aside for emergency use only? Sadly, many people simply don’t want to know what the bible says for fear that it would crimp their plans. And quiet frankly, that attitude is more problematic than people who outright don’t a give a rip what the bible says; the latter being much less hypocritical than the former.
A friend of mine wrote a paper a few years ago on the sufficiency of scripture. As he worked on that paper, I think he practiced on me. We’d be talking about some everyday topic or issue and he’d say, with the slightest stutter, “Now Ken, lets think what the bible has to say about that.” And you know what, we could usually bring scripture to bear relatively quickly on whatever was weighing on our minds. In hindsight, I don’t mind the fact that he practiced on me because he made great strides in teaching me how to think biblically and approach every day issues with a Christian worldview. (By the way, John MacArthur edited a fine book titled Think Biblically! Recovering a Christian Worldview a few years back.) Now, I’m still learning how to think biblically—I’ve not arrived or mastered it by any stretch. But I do genuinely strive to think biblically.
The bible contains words to live by; words to guide us in our everyday lives. So, over the next several weeks we’ll look at what the bible has to say about some everyday issues. Perhaps it will cultivate a sincere desire in your heart to think biblically. No promises, but if you have a particular issue you’d like to see addressed in this column over the coming weeks, drop me an email and I’ll see what I can do. God bless.
-Ken Askew
posted by TBC at
2/11/2009 07:51:00 AM
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