Checking Your Reflection

So lately I’ve been reading the book of Proverbs and, as always, have found myself completely overwhelmed by so many amazing verses. Oftentimes I’ll catch myself stopping every few paragraphs just to meditate on a specific passage that stood out to me, or even heading to the computer to add it to my list of verses I want to memorize. I actually use my highlighter sparingly in this book because I would probably end up coloring the pages yellow like I’ve done in James otherwise.

Anyway, one Scripture that I found very convicting, Proverbs 13:13, grabbed my attention in a new way this week and I wanted to share it with you:

 “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.”

You see, I believe that there are very few people out there who would readily admit to “despising God’s Word.” Nevertheless, verses like this make clear to us that such people are out there, for God would not waste time describing the fate of a people group that didn’t exist. In other words, just because we don’t think we fall into this category doesn’t necessarily mean we’re completely innocent.

So what does it mean to despise God’s Word? It means we don’t like what It has to say when It challenges our way of life. It means we’ll probably read a lot faster through the Ten Commandments than we do through more “comfortable” passages like 1 Corinthians 13, and John 3:16. It means that we’d rather spend our time engulfed in fantasy novels than in the Word, and find it easier to quote Scripture to others than to ourself. After all, anybody who looks into a mirror and sees a face other than their own must have seriously impaired vision (James 1:22-25).

As we read in James 2:10, breaking even one law of God is like breaking all of them. In the same way, despising even one Scripture or intentionally overlooking just one passage is no different than despising the whole Thing. By rejecting part of It, we’re rejecting all of It. As I like to say, the Bible is God’s Word, not a math textbook: so don’t add or subtract, just rightly divide.

3 comments:

Grammy Blick said...

Unfortunately, I've met (and you will meet) those who despise God's word and spend a great deal of time detracting from it. On the other hand, you will find many spreading His word, fully convinced He meant it when He said:
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
[Isaiah 55:11 KJV]

Melanie said...

Dakota,

I couldn't help but to laugh when I read this because I totally know how it is with highlighting! Sometimes I wonder why I even bother because in many chapters by time I'm done most of it is highlighted. :) It just shows us how amazing God's word truly is.
Great post --those are good thoughts...I think too often people do become comfortable with God's word. They also then tend to have the "pick and choose" mentality when coming to Scripture.

Thanks for sharing!
Ephesians 1:2,
Melanie

Ken said...

We are despising the Word when He says to give something up, or to do something we do not want to do, and we reject it. Many times when we say "I have the liberty to do such and such," yet God is telling us not to, we are despising the Word. Good post.

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