“Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep
the commands of the Lord your God that I give
you.”
Deuteronomy 4:2 (NIV)
The road sign said “curve – 45 mph”
but as a sixteen-year-old driver, I knew what it really meant. After all, my seventeen-year-old
classmate had told me herself. And she had been driving a year longer than I so
she was obviously much wiser.
“They just put those numbers on the
signs but it’s not what they really mean,” she told me. “They know everyone
will drive faster than that. So when you see 45 mph, it REALLY means you can
drive 50 or even 55,” she informed me. And I believed her logic and wisdom . .
. until I tried it two weeks later.
“Curve 45 mph means 50,” I mentally
reminded myself, and decided that I could go around the curve at 50 mph – well
within the “they know everyone will drive faster” logic. That flawed reasoning
almost caused me to end up in the ditch.
As I turned into the curve, I
realized I didn’t have good control at the higher speed and I ran off the left
side of the road, overcorrected to the right, and threw gravel from the edge of
the road out into a field as I managed to slow my speed to – you guessed it –
45 mph.
Thankfully there were no cars
coming from the other direction. My friend’s “it’s not what they really mean”
advice – and my willingness to believe it – could have ended tragically.
Not believing what the signs in
front of us say can get us into so much trouble when we apply it to God’s Word.
Sadly, we tend to read His instructions to us and then put our own
interpretation on it, to fit whatever situation we are in. No?
In Proverbs 16:28 we are warned not
to stir up dissension because “a gossip separates close friends” but we justify
our conversations with “this isn’t really gossip – just a comment I overheard”
as we change God’s meaning of gossip to fit OUR logic. The result? Friends and friendships are torn
apart.
We are commanded in Exodus 20:14
not to commit adultery. But the human logic of “I’m not happy anymore, I don’t
love him/her like I did, God wants me happy, doesn’t He?” replaces the Word and
we put our own spin on God’s commandment for us. And marriages and families are
broken in two.
Jesus states very clearly in
Matthew 22:39 that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves but we rationalize
“surely He doesn’t mean MY neighbor! Their dogs run everywhere, they never mow
their lawn right, their kids are too loud” and we ignore the very people that
we should be loving as Christ loves us. A
possible friendship is replaced by harsh feelings and an unchristian attitude.
My encouragement to you is to
follow Deuteronomy 4:2 in every area of your life. Take Jesus at His Word. Do
not add or take away from what He says. He knows what is best for His children.
And He truly means what He says.
Father,
I have to confess that there are times when I decide to put my own spin on your
Word instead of doing as you say. Forgive me for not obeying; help me to follow
your commandments of love. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
R.A.P. it up . . .
Reflect
·
Can you think of situations where you knew
God’s Word but decided that you knew better than He did what He really meant?
·
Did you obey Him or did you put your own
interpretation in place of His Word?
Apply
·
Journal today’s Power Scriptures. Think
over the last few weeks and instances when you needed to apply God’s Word and
journal those situations.
·
Journal what you did in each one. Did you
follow Him or did you change what He said to fit your situation? Ask the Lord
to show you how you should have reacted.
Power
·
Deuteronomy 4:2 (NIV) “Do not add to what
I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord
your God that I give you.”
·
Proverbs 30:5-6 (NIV) “Every word of God
is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his
words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.”
·
Isaiah 40:8 (NIV) “The grass withers and
the flowers fail, but the word of our God stands forever.”
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