John 8:32, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
If I took a poll of 100 people and asked the question, “What is the greatest threat to humanity today?” what do you think most people would say? Probably – evil; however, I beg to differ. I think the greatest threat to humanity today is ignorance. We’ve become a population of people who do not want to see beyond ourselves. We don’t want to study the Bible. We don’t want to know people outside our social circles. We don’t want to deal with issues; we want someone else to take care of it all.
I recently spoke to a Drug Task Force Officer who works the border between Mexico and the United States. He explained to me how drug lords pump money into communities throughout Central America to build schools, playgrounds, roadways, health centers to essentially buy the loyalty of the people. Unaware of who feeds them, the people of the communities go about life believing in a cause that literally destroys the world but brings them comfort.
“To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
In order to be a disciple of Christ you must hold to His teachings; in order to hold to His teachings, you must know His teachings; and that comes from study of His Word.
Many of you like to read what someone else thinks of Christ’s teachings – so do I. I learn a great deal from the interpretations of scriptures from others – but it can’t stop there. We can’t rely on what others say about God, we need to read and study the Word and determine how it applies to my life and your life not Pastor Andy Stanley’s life only or Joyce Meyers or Pastor Michael Franklin’s only. God uses His Word to speak into our lives. If all we are doing is listening to how He speaks into someone else’s life, whose life are we living?
Being a disciple of Christ is a commitment to know His truth for our lives so that He can live in and through us and use us for His purpose. In Romans 12:2, Paul writes, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
By renewing our minds on a daily basis with God, in prayer, His Word, through others, and in Bible studies, we can transform ourselves into people who know God’s will – “His good, pleasing and perfect will” for our lives.
