It Is Written Somewhere
Matthew 4: 1-3
1 Then Jesus
was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 And when He
had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
3 Now when
the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that
these stones become bread.”
You know the
story. Three times the devil tempts
Jesus while quoting scripture incorrectly and Jesus answers back with scripture
quoted accurately. But this scene could
have played out differently. Had it been
many Christians I know, myself included, we would have answered
differently. “If You are the Son of God,
command that these stones become bread.”
And I would have answered, “It is written, somewhere, just a minute, let
me get out my concordance and look that up.
Um… I know it’s here somewhere. OK,
devil, just wait until I find it. Oh,
where is that verse?” Doesn’t work so
well that way, does it?
I never was that
good at memorizing scripture, but, I admit, I’ve let my mind get lazy. I don’t even try to memorize scripture as I
used to. If we went through a time of troubles
in our nation and lost the use of electric power, I would be back to looking
through concordances and Bible handbooks.
But finding exact verses would be hard because I have failed to heed
David’s words, Psalms 119:11 Thy
word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Nor did I
heed Moses’ words in Deuteronomy 11:18a “Therefore
you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul.” When I need a verse for some situation
I’m going through, I usually know a verse and can recite at least part of it
from memory, but the problem is finding it.
WHERE is it written? When you
need a verse to help you, it’s too late to be thumbing a concordance or doing
an on-line search for it, you need to have it in your heart so the Holy Spirit
can prompt you right then.
Stories abound
of Christians being persecuted and not having a Bible handy. If you were locked up in a dank cell with no
Bible, what would you do? I know enough
Bible stories to be able to recall them and draw comfort from them, but how
about you? If you lost use of your
Bible, would you remember enough to draw comfort for yourself? Or if you were with a group, could you do a
Bible-less Bible study for them?
You might scoff
about the idea. We have millions of
Bibles in our country so you think you’re safe from ever facing that
possibility – and I pray you’re right – but it has happened in the past. Around eighty years ago the Nazis came to
power in Germany and both Jews and Christians lost many freedoms. The Jews were locked up in camps and often were
allowed no Scriptures. Christians were
locked up in prisons and often were allowed no Bibles. Forty some years ago soldiers captured by the
Vietnamese were locked up and often allowed no books of any kind, including Bibles.
Winter is fast approaching
and here in NW Ohio smart people are making sure they have snow shovels, ice
melter for the sidewalks, anti-freeze in the car, warm coats and hats and
gloves. We prepare for the winter season
with its cold and snow, but do we prepare for a season of spiritual
winter? Are you ready for the cold winds of persecution? The icy desolation of God’s Word being
forbidden?
I pray this
never happens to America. But I read the
papers and watch the news and see my beloved country stagger further and
further away from God. I know He has an
ocean of love and patience, but I also know He let Israel be punished by her
enemies for their sins. If He let Israel
be punished, what hope has a sinful, proud America? I believe we need to prepare for winter.
Stephen Cram November
10, 2013
Beware lest
any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition
of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with
Christ. Colossians 2:8
Visit my pastor’s blog at http://pastorjonrhinehart.blogspot.com/.
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