A WORD FOR TODAY, June 30, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, June 30, 2025
“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
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 the sky blue?” It has something to do with particles in the air and reflecting light, but I do not understand the process. I might be able to understand enough to explain it to someone else if I did a little research if asked “Why?” but I’m not sure I could make them understand.
Many people can easily say, “God loves you.” While this is a most important statement, lifesaving for those who are lost in sin and death, it is rarely enough to help a person understand the salvation of Jesus Christ. My Sunday school class has been studying the book of Proverbs this year, and it is always amazing how much we see Jesus and our calling as disciples in the book filled with one-liners. We have discovered that Jesus and the disciples often used the words of Solomon and the other Old Testament passages to teach about the speaking about the Kingdom of God. The Old Testament is the revelation of God, which they knew to be trustworthy. It is how they knew God’s Word given through the patriarchs, judges, kings, and prophets. The scriptures are trustworthy.
God did a brand-new thing by sending Jesus to be the Lamb of God to take upon the sin of the world, but there is nothing about His character that is any different in the New Testament and our world today. He is still a just God, but His wrath was cast upon His Son rather than us sinners. He is still merciful, forgiving our sins and cleansing us from unrighteousness. He is still our deliverer, protector, and teacher. He still guides, disciplines, inspires and transforms His people. He is now as He has always been our loving God.
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 as found in 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 and 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 like 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 love the stories and lessons of Jesus and the disciples in the New Testament, but it is important that we keep the Proverbs and other Old Testament stories as part of our study of God’s Word because they set the foundation from which they preached the Kingdom of God. They did not bring knew knowledge or wisdom; Jesus built upon that which God had already revealed, fulfilling the promises and making the Word of God complete. Then 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 a life that 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