"But when it pleased God,... to reveal His Son to me,... I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,... but I went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus."
To whom do I turn for instruction first, especially when it comes to matters of truth? My options are, among others, to look to others, read from others, listen to others, or perhaps even look and listen to myself. These sources may contain and convey pieces of truth that were bathed in the whole of Truth found in the Word from God Himself. However, they run the risk of being contaminated by untruth. I'm prone to pursue these other sources because I think they're sometimes easier to understand, or worse yet I think they're better able to unpack the depth of truth than Truth itself.
How foolish! Right out of the gate of his own conversion Paul, at the prompting of the Spirit and Jesus, went away to be taught by Him. Because he was an apostle, the Lord did instruct Paul in special ways that I may not be the recipient of, but I do have an equivalent way, the Bible. Lately I've been listening to myself more than listening to God; I say things to myself that are usually self-incrimminating or self-justifying. That's "flesh and blood", or maybe even the spirit of darkness. It never fully satisfies, nor does it kill the root source of my problems.
'God help me to see Your Word as sweet droplets of honey on a tongue starved of sweets. Cause me to look to Your Word when I find myself seeking other sources of "truth" ahead of the Truth. Don't allow me to fall prey to the trap of others or me or the devil and turn from what's good for me in exchange for what's most expedient or immediately gratifying. May Your Word be the life blood of my beating heart and stain everything it comes into contact with. "Thy Word have I hid in my heart" (Psalm 119:11a), O' God. Or shall I pray, "Thy Word shall I hide in my heart, O' God"?
No comments:
Post a Comment