“This is what the LORD, your protector, says, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you how to succeed, who leads you in the way you should go.” (Isaiah 48:17, NET 2nd ed.)
Jake’s granddaughter, Katy, is his pride and joy. For Easter this year, Jake decided to do something special. Knowing Katy was coming over after worship for an Easter brunch, Jake bought a dollhouse kit. His plan was to put it together on Saturday and have it waiting for her at the Easter brunch.
On the day before Easter, Jake took the dollhouse kit to his workshop. There, he opened the box and sorted out all the pieces. It was obvious to Jake what went where. He had the picture on the box. He could pick out the pieces of roofing, siding, wallpaper, and more. The kit even came with some premium dollhouse furniture. Excited about Katy’s dollhouse, Jake set up the picture on the box as his model and started assembling the kit.
Four hours later, Jake’s wife, Tammy, came down to see how much progress had been made. Jake looked exhausted. She inquired how things were going only to be told by Jake that the dollhouse was driving him mad! When Tammy inquired as to what was wrong, Jake responded that there were four hundred pieces to the dollhouse. It would take him days to complete it. He also had a mound of pieces he couldn’t figure out in the corner of his workbench! Seeing Jake’s frustration, his wife asked, “Did you follow the instructions?”
Jake answered, “Yeah, after about three hours! And by then, I had made a mess of it!”
Seeing Jake struggling so, Tammy grabbed the instructions and they started over together. In two hours, everything was complete. Tammy even found a half dozen errors made by Jake. Thankfully, the glue hadn’t dried on those parts or there would have been a lot of regret come Easter morning!
Jake is like many of us. He doesn’t like to follow directions when putting things together! He’d rather figure things out for himself than follow directions. If he encounters problems, only then will he pull out the instructions!
Jake’s situation reminded me of a call I received a few decades ago. I was having a nice afternoon off work when my aunt called me. She was having problems with her Video Cassette Recorder. She wanted to tape a TV show on which her son was appearing! However, she was frantic! She could not get the Video Recorder to record the right channel on her television!
After trying to figure out what my aunt was saying, I started piecing together what went wrong. For forty minutes of aggravating diagnosis, I tried to help. Getting frustrated, I asked, “Did you read the owner’s manual to see if it had any answers?”
Her answer was classic, “Oh, I threw that away with the box when I got it. I am a teacher. I figured it couldn’t be that difficult to operate!” Well, she was wrong!
Some people don’t like to read maps. Some won’t read the owner’s manual that came with a new purchase. Many don’t use the instruction manual when doing an installation. Others run into problems when they fail to follow the instructions left by another. Why is it that people refuse to follow directions or instructions unless forced into it? Aren’t the directions and instructions there to help?
What surprised me as a pastor was how many people also do not follow God’s directions and instructions. If you think about it, the Bible has many of these within its pages. Yet, how many people do not take time to read the Bible? Instead, they bumble through life making mistakes, not realizing that they are ignoring the single greatest tool that can help them with any problem in life they encounter!
Today’s scripture from Isaiah 48:17 explains that God “teaches you how to succeed” and “leads you in the way you should go”. God does this often through His Word, the Bible. God does this through the actions of the Holy Spirit. God wants to direct every soul in the best way possible. Yet many ignore God’s direction. They do not take time to read and memorize scripture, become acquainted with God’s wisdom, nor obey God’s commands. They are going through life blind to God’s provision.
Jesus saw this very thing in His day! After criticizing the Pharisees for their poor leadership and understanding of faith, Jesus said, “if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14). From Jesus’ perspective, because the Pharisees were not following God’s direction, they failed to adequately lead the faithful in everyday life. Being blind to many aspects of God’s law, they were not the faithful guides they considered themselves. Thankfully, many followed Jesus upon hearing the gospel.
Two men struck up a conversation after a church meeting. Ten minutes later, the two realized how much they had in common. Both were construction workers. Both had a wife and two children. Both were in their thirties. After a great discussion, one asked the other, “How do you know if you are lukewarm, shallow Christian?”
Pausing to think, the other man responded with surprising wisdom. He said, “I would say I was lukewarm until about three months ago. Then, I started something new. I read the Bible seriously for the first time in my life. Before this, all I'd ever done was skimmed it.
I just trusted whatever the pastor said. It was just blind faith. Now, after the past few months of really understanding more of God’s word, I’m fixing parts of my life. I’m learning what it means to put God first. I now feel like I have a handle on what it means to be a disciple. The whole Bible is a story of people disobeying God, making up their own rules instead of trusting God, deciding good and evil for ourselves instead of using God's wisdom.” Wow! Now, that’s what I call a real conversation!
In Isaiah 48:17, the prophet Isaiah calls God “the protector”. Part of being protected by God is knowing who God is and what God wills. Without the Bible to point you to some answers, you are going to be full of questions. You will feel lost. You will lack wisdom. You will not take your faith seriously. You won’t be taking God seriously! Don’t bumble around in your spiritual life! Meditate on God’s Word! Trust in the Lord Jesus. Listen to God’s Spirit. Heed the direction and instruction given by God in Christ!
A pastor stopped in to see a member who had recently come home from the hospital. While visiting, the member proudly pointed to her “new Bible”. He asked, “How did you receive it?”
She answered, “I got it as a Christmas present from my son five years ago.”
Without thinking, the pastor replied, “Wow, it’s still in great shape! How often do you read it?”
She answered, “Oh, it was such a nice gift. I decided to put it on my coffee table for everyone to see! I know it was expensive. It’s a large print special hand-made leather-bound edition with cross references! It even has a dictionary in the back!”
Inside, the pastor was shaking his head. Another Bible catching dust. Another member who doesn’t open her Bible to see the wisdom and blessing and instruction within its pages!”
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Heavenly Father! In the name of the risen Lord Jesus, I come to You in prayer this day. I seek Your direction. I want to know Your will for my life. Open my eyes to the purpose of today. Help me to understand the wisdom of Your Word. Direct my thoughts. Instruct my heart not to follow emotions but instead to follow Your Holy Spirit.
I so enjoy reading my Bible when new ideas and questions and answers come to mind. It is like having a conversation with You! Sometimes, words or verses seem to jump out at me. It’s like I’m hearing them anew! I know You are behind these revelations! I know You want me to learn discipleship!
I pray today for those who refuse to follow Your directions. I pray for those whose Bibles are simply gathering dust. I pray for those who have lost their way or fallen for temptations.
I have sinned against You, Heavenly Father! I have failed to follow Your voice. In weak moments, I purposefully chose to ignore Your will. I neglected to follow Your command. Cleanse my heart and mind from the residue of sinful thinking! Put my feet back on the path that leads to righteousness! Amen.
On the day before Easter, Jake took the dollhouse kit to his workshop. There, he opened the box and sorted out all the pieces. It was obvious to Jake what went where. He had the picture on the box. He could pick out the pieces of roofing, siding, wallpaper, and more. The kit even came with some premium dollhouse furniture. Excited about Katy’s dollhouse, Jake set up the picture on the box as his model and started assembling the kit.
Four hours later, Jake’s wife, Tammy, came down to see how much progress had been made. Jake looked exhausted. She inquired how things were going only to be told by Jake that the dollhouse was driving him mad! When Tammy inquired as to what was wrong, Jake responded that there were four hundred pieces to the dollhouse. It would take him days to complete it. He also had a mound of pieces he couldn’t figure out in the corner of his workbench! Seeing Jake’s frustration, his wife asked, “Did you follow the instructions?”
Jake answered, “Yeah, after about three hours! And by then, I had made a mess of it!”
Seeing Jake struggling so, Tammy grabbed the instructions and they started over together. In two hours, everything was complete. Tammy even found a half dozen errors made by Jake. Thankfully, the glue hadn’t dried on those parts or there would have been a lot of regret come Easter morning!
Jake is like many of us. He doesn’t like to follow directions when putting things together! He’d rather figure things out for himself than follow directions. If he encounters problems, only then will he pull out the instructions!
Jake’s situation reminded me of a call I received a few decades ago. I was having a nice afternoon off work when my aunt called me. She was having problems with her Video Cassette Recorder. She wanted to tape a TV show on which her son was appearing! However, she was frantic! She could not get the Video Recorder to record the right channel on her television!
After trying to figure out what my aunt was saying, I started piecing together what went wrong. For forty minutes of aggravating diagnosis, I tried to help. Getting frustrated, I asked, “Did you read the owner’s manual to see if it had any answers?”
Her answer was classic, “Oh, I threw that away with the box when I got it. I am a teacher. I figured it couldn’t be that difficult to operate!” Well, she was wrong!
Some people don’t like to read maps. Some won’t read the owner’s manual that came with a new purchase. Many don’t use the instruction manual when doing an installation. Others run into problems when they fail to follow the instructions left by another. Why is it that people refuse to follow directions or instructions unless forced into it? Aren’t the directions and instructions there to help?
What surprised me as a pastor was how many people also do not follow God’s directions and instructions. If you think about it, the Bible has many of these within its pages. Yet, how many people do not take time to read the Bible? Instead, they bumble through life making mistakes, not realizing that they are ignoring the single greatest tool that can help them with any problem in life they encounter!
Today’s scripture from Isaiah 48:17 explains that God “teaches you how to succeed” and “leads you in the way you should go”. God does this often through His Word, the Bible. God does this through the actions of the Holy Spirit. God wants to direct every soul in the best way possible. Yet many ignore God’s direction. They do not take time to read and memorize scripture, become acquainted with God’s wisdom, nor obey God’s commands. They are going through life blind to God’s provision.
Jesus saw this very thing in His day! After criticizing the Pharisees for their poor leadership and understanding of faith, Jesus said, “if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14). From Jesus’ perspective, because the Pharisees were not following God’s direction, they failed to adequately lead the faithful in everyday life. Being blind to many aspects of God’s law, they were not the faithful guides they considered themselves. Thankfully, many followed Jesus upon hearing the gospel.
Two men struck up a conversation after a church meeting. Ten minutes later, the two realized how much they had in common. Both were construction workers. Both had a wife and two children. Both were in their thirties. After a great discussion, one asked the other, “How do you know if you are lukewarm, shallow Christian?”
Pausing to think, the other man responded with surprising wisdom. He said, “I would say I was lukewarm until about three months ago. Then, I started something new. I read the Bible seriously for the first time in my life. Before this, all I'd ever done was skimmed it.
I just trusted whatever the pastor said. It was just blind faith. Now, after the past few months of really understanding more of God’s word, I’m fixing parts of my life. I’m learning what it means to put God first. I now feel like I have a handle on what it means to be a disciple. The whole Bible is a story of people disobeying God, making up their own rules instead of trusting God, deciding good and evil for ourselves instead of using God's wisdom.” Wow! Now, that’s what I call a real conversation!
In Isaiah 48:17, the prophet Isaiah calls God “the protector”. Part of being protected by God is knowing who God is and what God wills. Without the Bible to point you to some answers, you are going to be full of questions. You will feel lost. You will lack wisdom. You will not take your faith seriously. You won’t be taking God seriously! Don’t bumble around in your spiritual life! Meditate on God’s Word! Trust in the Lord Jesus. Listen to God’s Spirit. Heed the direction and instruction given by God in Christ!
A pastor stopped in to see a member who had recently come home from the hospital. While visiting, the member proudly pointed to her “new Bible”. He asked, “How did you receive it?”
She answered, “I got it as a Christmas present from my son five years ago.”
Without thinking, the pastor replied, “Wow, it’s still in great shape! How often do you read it?”
She answered, “Oh, it was such a nice gift. I decided to put it on my coffee table for everyone to see! I know it was expensive. It’s a large print special hand-made leather-bound edition with cross references! It even has a dictionary in the back!”
Inside, the pastor was shaking his head. Another Bible catching dust. Another member who doesn’t open her Bible to see the wisdom and blessing and instruction within its pages!”
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Heavenly Father! In the name of the risen Lord Jesus, I come to You in prayer this day. I seek Your direction. I want to know Your will for my life. Open my eyes to the purpose of today. Help me to understand the wisdom of Your Word. Direct my thoughts. Instruct my heart not to follow emotions but instead to follow Your Holy Spirit.
I so enjoy reading my Bible when new ideas and questions and answers come to mind. It is like having a conversation with You! Sometimes, words or verses seem to jump out at me. It’s like I’m hearing them anew! I know You are behind these revelations! I know You want me to learn discipleship!
I pray today for those who refuse to follow Your directions. I pray for those whose Bibles are simply gathering dust. I pray for those who have lost their way or fallen for temptations.
I have sinned against You, Heavenly Father! I have failed to follow Your voice. In weak moments, I purposefully chose to ignore Your will. I neglected to follow Your command. Cleanse my heart and mind from the residue of sinful thinking! Put my feet back on the path that leads to righteousness! Amen.