A WORD FOR TODAY, March 10, 2023
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, March 10, 2023
“But you remain in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:14-17, WEB
The more I study the scriptures, the more I realize there is so much I don’t know. The funny thing is, the more I study the scriptures, the more I realize that there aren’t many people in any better shape than I. I am prepping a study on the book of Proverbs for my Sunday school class. When I begin a study, I buy a lot of books about the subject, seeking the best references to help us understand what we are learning. Inevitably, I discover that there are a dozen different ways to understand a text. Some commentators will give various understandings, while others will focus only on their own point of view. Some books are so unhelpful that I don’t even finish reading. It is good to see the many points of view because that helps us look at the text in different ways, often finding the answer somewhere in the middle.
There is a difference between knowing and understanding. I can easily say “The sky is blue,” but I have no answer to the question, “Why is it blue?” I know it has something to do with particles in the air and reflecting light, but I do not understand the process. I could probably learn enough to answer the “why” question with a little research or the help of an expect.
Many people can easily say, “God loves you.” We know this is true because the Bible tells us so, although sometimes when we read the Bible we wonder about the other aspects of God that we see in the texts. We wonder if we can find God’s love throughout the texts. The book of Proverbs seems to be thirty-one chapters of helpful sayings for daily living, but what does it say about the love of God? Is God’s love even obvious in the Old Testament, and if it is not, why do we both to read it?
We read it because Jesus read it, and so did the disciples. The Old Testament, including the book of Proverbs is quoted over and over again. It is the revelation of God, which they knew to be trustworthy. The Old Testament is how they knew God’s Word given through the patriarchs, judges, kings, and prophets. They may not have always understood everything about it, but they knew it was trustworthy. We know it is trustworthy, too.
Though God did a brand-new thing by sending Jesus to be the Lamb of God to take upon the sin of the world, nothing about His character is any different in the New Testament. He is still a just God, but now His wrath has been cast upon His Son rather than us sinners. He is still merciful, forgiving our sins and cleansing us from unrighteousness. He is still a loving God, our deliverer, protector, and teacher. He guides, disciplines, inspires and transforms His people.
God still reveals Himself to individuals through His creation, through prayer, through each other, and we can know Him through these things. But it is by God’s written word, the scriptures, that we can understand and be assured that what we see, feel, and hear are truly from God. Satan is very good at being the adversary. He is well versed in God’s Word and cunningly twists it to fit his purpose to deceive and destroy.
This is why knowledge is not enough; we also need understanding. God gives understanding by the power of His Spirit, but it is not handed to us. Understanding comes through study of His Word, through the witness of the men and women whose stories are recorded in the scriptures. It is not enough for there to be just one witness, so throughout the Bible the same concepts – faith, hope, peace, joy, love, responsibility, generosity, and many more – are repeated over and over again. As we see the connections between the Old and New Testament, God’s word is built line upon line into our hearts making us wise and understanding disciples.
We are going to study the Proverbs because the Old Testament stories help us to understand God and His Word. For Jesus and those who gave us the New Testament, the scriptures about which Paul writes to Timothy was the Old Testament. The stories that led to Jesus set the foundation of what Jesus was sent to teach and do. Jesus did not bring knew knowledge; He built upon that which God had already revealed to help us understand, fulfilling the promises and making the Word of God complete. Through Paul and the disciples, God added the final pieces to the puzzle so that we might not only know and love God but also that we will live the life that we learn in the Proverbs which is good, right and true, glorifying Him in all that we do.
A WORD FOR TODAY is posted five days a week – Monday through Friday. The devotional on Wednesday takes a look at the scripture from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday. A WORD FOR TODAY is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Word-for-Today-Devotional/339428839418276. Like the page to receive the devotion through Facebook. For information and to access our archives, visit http://www.awordfortoday.org