Following Jesus I mean.
It’s a path, not a formula, not a set of equations and not principles for good living that we wring out of God’s word to craft our lives apart from bowing before his throne.
A new friend shared something with me several days ago. He was speaking of a mentor he had some years ago. His mentor taught him that math is a language, and that concept brought a life-changing moment to my friend, a dramatic shift that gave my him a perspective that he believes allows him to see things that others cannot.
And I thought … hmmmm. We sometimes do the opposite.
We take the language of the Bible, God’s message to us, and we reduce it to formulas and equations and principles.
And it seems okay if we don’t give it much thought. What could be so wrong with going to the Bible and figuring out principles to live by. Doesn’t seem so bad, maybe even good.
But as a result we do not see things that we should see. In fact we sometimes see our world just like everybody else does. We don’t have God’s perspective on life; we have our perspective on life as wrangled from his holy words.
Because we misunderstand and omit a key element – the fear of the LORD.
We don’t take wisdom by our wits and our study. We receive wisdom as we bow before God. We can “take” knowledge about God. We can fashion formulas and spiritual equations.
But in doing so we miss the words that would come to us “from his mouth.”
- Proverbs 2:5–6 (NAS) Then you will discern the fear of the Lord, And discover the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
- Proverbs 1:7 (NAS) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
- Psalm 111:10 (NAS) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.
- Proverbs 9:10 (NAS) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
- Proverbs 14:27 (NAS) The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, That one may avoid the snares of death.
Should we study God’s word? Yes.
Is that a good thing? Only if we are not counting on our study to provide wisdom instead of our study deepening our relationship with a God who will speak those very words written on the pages of our Bibles directly to us.
A God who will press those words deeply into our hearts.
May I ask? When is the last time you read or studied the Bible and you were wowed because you knew the words were “from his mouth?”
