Grass, Flowers, Rain, Snow

*Image courtesy of DesertRat1 at www.sxc.hu

So I slacked off ran out of time last night and didn't do my entry on Isaiah 34-44.  However, the passage that stuck with me from yesterday tied neatly into today's passage.  Of course, I covered Isaiah 45-55 (one more day of consistency and the dream will be complete!) on my walk this morning.  Ironically, my walk was cut short by rain (the irony will soon become apparent), so I finished listening under my carport.

The key passage yesterday was Isaiah 40:7-8, and today was Isaiah 55, especially verses 10-11.  In chapter 40, we see that people may come and go, much like the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of God stands forever.  And in chapter 55 we see that this same eternal Word will not be found to be useless or powerless, but will accomplish the purpose God had for it, just as the rain and snow never fall without watering their intended ground.  

Where is my hope?  Where am I putting my confidence?  I say that the Bible is all we need.  I use words like inerrant, inspired, and sufficient*.  Do I really mean this?

I surely didn't use to.


I mean, not really.  A lot of us "people of the Book" are like this.  We say the Bible is all we need, but then we run to statistics, or "experts" (a topic for another blog entry!), or pop-psychology, or secular philosophy.  Or maybe we do the respectable, scholarly thing and think we have to prove the Bible or back it up with secular thought and wisdom.

I hear people say things like, "You can't start with the Bible, people just don't believe it anymore."  While I understand where that sentiment comes from, I humbly disagree.  I like what Greg Stier said/wrote once (how's that for documenting sources!), "The Bible is a sword!  If you go hackin at someone with a sword and they say, 'I don't believe in your sword!' what's gonna happen to them?"  I too that to heart, along with Isaiah 55:10-11 and just started believing that if I spoke the truth of the Word of God, it would accomplish its set goal for that circumstance.

This is incredibly freeing.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying that we check our brains at the door of the sanctuary (whether coming or going!).  I'm saying that sometimes we get too caught up in worrying about whether or not someone will accept our words as soon as we start quoting Scripture.  The thing is, some people just won't!  I've actually experimented around sometimes with quoting Scripture, but not sounding like I'm quoting anything.  (This is aided by Scripture memory, study, and meditation).  Sometimes we need to blatantly say, "The Bible says..." but other times I just quote a passage and rely on its truthfulness to accomplish what God sent it out for.

So try this: assume that when you quote Scripture, you are speaking pure truth.  Don't shy back from it, don't apologize for it, don't even try to prove it or back it up with other sources.  Know that you are speaking the very Words which God Himself spoke, and they carry the same authority and power as when the Spirit led the author to write them.  Trust the Word, trust the Spirit, and see what God may bring about as His Word pours from your lips like rain from a heavy cloud.

*Image courtesy of jpbrouard at www.sxc.hu

*Inerrant - without any error, falsehood, or contradiction.  Inspired - literally "God-breathed," the Bible is the very Word of God.  Sufficient - complete, able to meet the needs of mankind as deemed by God, sufficient for the life and work of all.