What Good Is This Word Anyway?

 

What Good Is This Word Anyway?

^{2 Timothy 3:16 “}All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

     Remember those handheld voice recorders?  Made by Panasonic possibly.  One shiny speaker with the control buttons underneath.  About the size of a small piece of paper, it entertained us replaying back our voices and music as we wondered.

     Now imagine someone followed you around all day with one of those voice recorders.  It captured every sigh, every shout, and every slight word.  What if they followed you every month then year?  Could your words be used as evidence in a court of law to prove or disprove?  The jury would hold on to your word as the truth.  Could your words hold that weight?  If you are like me, I would turn red with embarrassment as my off said quotes were sounded back.

     Quotable.  Usually the caliber of the word lies in the one speaking.  As in “Such and such … such” – Abraham Lincoln.  The dash, then the name is the exclamation point.  Somehow “Such and such… such” – Cory Cvrk would fail to grab an “Oh wow!” from the crowd.  I am obscure.  My words mean little.

     Profound words come from a profound person.  God in this case is on trial.  He has spoken recordable words.  He challenges us to examine Him as history comes and testifies.  We are to listen as the educated jury weighing evidence from His Truth to the conventional wisdom of this world.  Is He accused without substance?  Has He perjured Himself by knowingly submitting a falsified record of recollection we call the Old Testament?  Are we to take Him at His Word?

     Trust is a huge thing.  Individual relationships to civilizations are built upon trust.  Without it, we panic and kill ourselves with doubt and foreclosure.  We terminate lending and kindness when the slightest bit of instability calls.  We run and abandon the wares left behind in a once binding agreement.  Mistrust destroys.

     When we approach God’s Word, we have a choice.  Is it the inerrant, unfailing word of a caring God to His creatures or is it up for grabs like the doubtable daily newsprint?  Hearsay or opinion?  Fairytales and goblins with Santa playing the kind witch of the North while the Easter Bunny passes out landmines to the unsuspecting village children?  Do our imaginations run to conjure these pictures, or do we listen to His whole testimony?

     He said all scripture.  In its entirety, we read the splitting of the Red Sea then a proverb giving daily advice in business dealings.  Next we read of Sampson, a man caught in lust contrasted to a Jesus man given to propriety even amongst His feminine followers.  Genesis tells of the beginning while the Revelation articulates the end.  Do we trust this?  I mean really, some are farfetched.

     My dad is a gardener.  He raises tomatoes for his garden from seeds he has kept from the previous year’s crop.  Tediously he extracts the seeds and plants them under grow lights.  Then uses a small fan to strengthen the shoots.  When they are ready, he moves the little ones to the garden where they thrive.  It is a process.

     Now if my dad were to tell his workings to me as a child, would I have understood?  Weren’t his ways higher than mine?  As a three-year-old, I only stepped on plants.  Hence the picture.

     God has given us His mind in print.  He said it was useful even if we don’t understand all of it.  It is a process.  Do we convict Him on grounds of suspicion, or do we give Him the benefit of the doubt given His revealed character?  It all doesn’t have to make sense to us.  We children can trust He will provide answers in time.