You Are Missing Out: The Riches of the Bible

During our morning devotion, I asked my 10 and 7 year old a very simple question.

“Do you want to be wise or a fool?”

Even my children can answer that question. I will go out on a limb and say that virtually no one wants to be considered a fool.

I fear, however, we are all too often falling into the trap of foolishness, myself included. Human nature produces fools. The truth and light of the Lord produces wisdom. We need to bring our foolishness into the light. We need to face truth.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

The Bible is full of God’s words, wisdom and instructions, but in our foolishness, we want to decide who God is, often without even reading our Bibles.

I see this in myself. I like to think of God as never wrathful, never just in a way that might not allow someone to enter His kingdom.

It is foolish, even fatal, to think I get to define God.

Human nature, and indeed the current influence of society today, allows us all to think that we are right, that we all get to create or decide our own truth.  This is so foolish.

If there is a God, and I believe there is One, do we really think we all get to make up what we want him to be like? Am I the smartest person on earth? Are you? Or maybe it is someone with a PhD?

Or instead of us all creating a God in our minds that fits our whims, perhaps God is who he is, regardless of what we think or feel he should be like.

The Bible says that God created us in His image, but too often we are creating God in our image.

How to Avoid Being A Fool

I have fallen in love with the Bible. If I had time, I would read it most of every day. It is complex but so glaringly true even in our chaotic times. It is inspiring and daunting all at the same time. Mainly, it is a consistent, never changing, reliable place to understand who God is and to RECEIVE His wisdom.

However, we are too often despising His wisdom for our own. I spent 40 years getting up, going about my day while relying on my own “wisdom.” On my bookshelf was the WISDOM of GOD and I virtually never picked it up. If I did pick it up, I paid it little heed because I was pretty sure of my own competence and my own understanding.

Bluck…..I was a fool.

So, how do we avoid being a fool? How do we become truly wise?

The Bible, the very word of God my friends! Be encouraged! God in his mercy and grace has not left us to wonder. He has not left us unequipped and ignorant. He has given us his WORD. On your shelf is a book filled with the very words of GOD. How amazing is that?!

Now, I know some of you don’t believe that. You don’t believe upon Jesus and you don’t believe the Bible is reliable or even divinely inspired. I am not here to defend the Bible today.

I am here to be the light, to wake up and encourage my sleeping brothers and sisters in Christ, because there are WAY too many of us saying that we believe in Jesus, even professing the Bible, but not picking it up.

I am here to encourage you. You know why? You are MISSING OUT! God has revealed who He is, His promises to us, and the best path to follow. In America we all have access to these precious truths, yet we breeze past them every day on our way to Facebook.   Word of God? Facebook? Word of God? Facebook?  The scale too often tips the wrong way.

Surely we know instinctively that the Bible is filled with more truth than Facebook, yet I would guess most of us spend more time browsing social media than the very words of God.

“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding- indeed, if you call our for insight and cry aloud for understanding,and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:1-6

The Bible is rich in God’s wisdom, and the world is full of Satan’s lies, quite honestly. If we claim to believe, there is no “I should be reading my Bible.” There is only the question of why am I not reading my Bible? If we want true wisdom, we must accept the words of God, store up his commands and search for it as hidden treasure! For the Lord gives wisdom but we all must search for it. Accept His words, store them up, listen, call out, look and search with all you have, for He is the greatest treasure now and forever.