Man needs to get back into the habit of studying God’s word. Many people believe they are studying when really they only are reading the verses. Then they look to someone to give them the understanding, and they accept what they are told without checking the scripture for themselves.
Society wants everything to be quick and easy. True study of the Bible is not this way. It takes time to study God’s word. When people look at passages, they should determine certain things about it – who is speaking, to whom is the author speaking, what dispensation of time is being talked about, etc.
The Bereans still serve as the example of how one should listen to any proclaimer of the Word: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).
If people never check to see if the things being taught are true, they can end up believing lies. Men are just that – men. They can make mistakes and teach false doctrine.
The people of God must know what is in the Bible.
The prophet Hosea wrote of God’s people in his day: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).
Paul wrote to the young man Timothy: “Study to show thyself approved unto God …” (II Tim. 2: 15).
People worry themselves into frenzies over many different things. Some people worry about money to the point that it becomes the focal point of their lives. They will do whatever is necessary to gain their fortune.
The Bible has much to say about this problem.
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (I Tim. 6:10).
This quest for riches can cause people to leave God out of their lives completely, thinking they are the ones who are doing everything.
Well, might they remember the parable of the foolish rich man found in Luke 12:26-31? God is the one who enables us to have the health and mind to go about our day-to-day life.
The heart must be Christ-centered. If a person persists in trusting in the riches of this life rather than Christ, he or she will find himself with nothing on the Day of Judgment.
“For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26)
Then there are those who trust only in self. Much of this comes from the humanistic teaching done in our schools today.
Our young people are faced with instructors who do not believe in the Bible. Generations are being reared to believe that man has all the answers. This false idea makes it difficult for religious teaching to be accepted.
Thousands, even millions, search for peace and happiness by their own means, not realizing that only in Christ is true peace and happiness to be found.
Jeremiah wrote these words: “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jer. 10:23).
If man trusts only in his steps, how will he be guided? There will be no moral or ethical direction for him to follow.
As in the days of the Judges: “… Every man will do what is right in his own eyes” (Judg. 21:25).
Friends, we must learn to trust in God and his promises.