The Word of God

Jeremiah 8:8

How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?

When we hold up our Bibles and declare to the world that we have wisdom, but we don’t spend time in prayer or give to the orphans and widows or spend time just worshipping the Lord, we deceive ourselves. How can we say we have wisdom when we don’t spend time getting to know God? He is the one who gives us wisdom. Without a close relationship with God, our wisdom is foolishness.  

This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.     Jeremiah 9:23-24

Anyone can read the Bible. Those who read and believe what God says about himself are on the right path. You can only act on belief in God if you have belief in God.

If you ever find yourself studying the Bible in your own intellect, not asking God for wisdom, take a step back and reconnect with God. I’ve done that. I’ve tried to figure out things on my own, but nothing was making sense. I had to set my Bible study aside for a moment and find out what God wanted me to do instead. Sometimes he asks us to pray for others or take action to help others.

It’s best to start our Bible reading time with a reconnecting, a time of heart-to-heart with God. Then we’ll be ready to stop and listen when we notice he’s trying to whisper something into our hearts. God can help us navigate the wisdom in the Bible when we stop shoving him away and start paying attention to his subtle guidance.

His word is truth. Always. But anyone can take truth and twist it to deceive others. Our relationship with God will strengthen our ability to see the truth when others try to distract and deceive us. It’s not the Bible we should believe in, but the God of the Bible.

Without the Lord, there is no word of the Lord.