Gigantic Exaggerations – Part 1
David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” [1 Samuel 17:32-33]
I recall this silly story about a children’s Sunday School class. The teacher, Ms. Joy, habitually asked her kids a question and waited to see who would volunteer an answer. One time she asked them, “Okay, children. Who can tell me what has a long, bushy tail, jumps through trees, and eats nuts?”
Then she paused and awaited a response. Unlike normally, however, her kids remained totally silent. So she prodded them a bit, “Now don’t be bashful. I know you know the answer, so some one spit it out!”
Well, her students persisted with their vow of silence to the point it was becoming embarrassing. So Ms. Joy pleaded, “Please, someone answer the question!”
From the back of the room little Johnnie B. Goode raised his hand, and was Ms. Joy relieved. “Okay, Johnnie. What is the answer?”
To which Johnnie responded, “Well, it sounds like a squirrel to me. But since we’re in Sunday School class, I guess it’s got to be Jesus.”
Yes, I know…silly billy stuff. Nonetheless, there is a goodly amount of reality to it. We Christians today don’t value the Bible like our ancestors did in days of old. We’re distracted with TV and movies and computer games, with running from store to store and restaurant to restaurant, with hanging out and having a grand old time. Affluence does not foster spiritual maturity, you see: it stifles it!
We are so busy with ourselves, that we prefer to save time by reading a digest of the Bible in other people’s booklets about the Bible. What we should be doing is spending daily time alone with the Lord Jesus and allowing Him to teach us His Word.
Alas, but you get what you pay for. Little Bible in, little Bible out. Oodles of sawdust and ashes in, oodles of sawdust and ashes out. When it comes to knowing God and eternity, man’s words about the Bible are just that, sawdust and ashes. God gives us spiritual teachers to aid us in learning how to read the Bible and hear God’s voice for ourselves, not to replace our quiet time alone with our blessed Savior.
Sometimes we can be a pigheaded bunch! No matter how many times in the Bible the Lord demonstrates the perils of drifting away from His Word, the tendency is to think this applies only to other people. Consequently there is the danger of becoming spiritual simpletons. We know the answer to Ms. Joy’s question is a squirrel, you see; but we assume it’s wrong because in church everything has to be Jesus. Fact of the matter is, in real life everything is about Jesus, but everything is not Jesus…like a squirrel, for instance.
Oh, dear. We are out of time for today. Let’s ponder what we’ve learned today and return tomorrow to continue our study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
I recall this silly story about a children’s Sunday School class. The teacher, Ms. Joy, habitually asked her kids a question and waited to see who would volunteer an answer. One time she asked them, “Okay, children. Who can tell me what has a long, bushy tail, jumps through trees, and eats nuts?”
Then she paused and awaited a response. Unlike normally, however, her kids remained totally silent. So she prodded them a bit, “Now don’t be bashful. I know you know the answer, so some one spit it out!”
Well, her students persisted with their vow of silence to the point it was becoming embarrassing. So Ms. Joy pleaded, “Please, someone answer the question!”
From the back of the room little Johnnie B. Goode raised his hand, and was Ms. Joy relieved. “Okay, Johnnie. What is the answer?”
To which Johnnie responded, “Well, it sounds like a squirrel to me. But since we’re in Sunday School class, I guess it’s got to be Jesus.”
Yes, I know…silly billy stuff. Nonetheless, there is a goodly amount of reality to it. We Christians today don’t value the Bible like our ancestors did in days of old. We’re distracted with TV and movies and computer games, with running from store to store and restaurant to restaurant, with hanging out and having a grand old time. Affluence does not foster spiritual maturity, you see: it stifles it!
We are so busy with ourselves, that we prefer to save time by reading a digest of the Bible in other people’s booklets about the Bible. What we should be doing is spending daily time alone with the Lord Jesus and allowing Him to teach us His Word.
Alas, but you get what you pay for. Little Bible in, little Bible out. Oodles of sawdust and ashes in, oodles of sawdust and ashes out. When it comes to knowing God and eternity, man’s words about the Bible are just that, sawdust and ashes. God gives us spiritual teachers to aid us in learning how to read the Bible and hear God’s voice for ourselves, not to replace our quiet time alone with our blessed Savior.
Sometimes we can be a pigheaded bunch! No matter how many times in the Bible the Lord demonstrates the perils of drifting away from His Word, the tendency is to think this applies only to other people. Consequently there is the danger of becoming spiritual simpletons. We know the answer to Ms. Joy’s question is a squirrel, you see; but we assume it’s wrong because in church everything has to be Jesus. Fact of the matter is, in real life everything is about Jesus, but everything is not Jesus…like a squirrel, for instance.
Oh, dear. We are out of time for today. Let’s ponder what we’ve learned today and return tomorrow to continue our study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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