A Nugget from New Life Network
Scriptures for the Day (February 4, 2016)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: (Hosea 4:6)
Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. (Isaiah 5:13)
I am an avid amateur bass fisherman. I do it because I love it and I do it because it gives my wife and I time together to get out on the water by ourselves with minimal distractions. I bought a small bass boat some 8 years ago and have fished in that boat literally hundreds of times. One day recently we put in at our favorite lake and my outboard motor would not start. That was the first time in 8 years that had happened. I spent a lot of time checking everything but could not locate the problem.
The next day I took the boat into the dealer and left it for repair. Before I ever got back home the dealer called me on my cell and said it was fixed. I was shocked. I asked him what was the problem and he told me the “kill switch” had been turned off. The “kill” switch is a safety mechanism on a bass boat that shuts the motor down in case you are thrown from the boat accidentally.
Do you know how stupid that made me feel? Well, the dealer made me feel a little better because he said it wasn’t the first time that had happened. Just a little bit more knowledge on my part could have avoided a lot of aggravation. I can promise you this, it will not happen again!!!
Here is my point. This dealer had knowledge of the history of this type problem, knew exactly where to look first, and knew how to fix it. In life, we are going to experience things that we do not know how to fix. We all have our own spiritual “kill switch” which is the devil himself that comes to kill, steal and destroy. We need to be ready for him. Where do we go to find the answers? I am glad you asked.The Bible is in one sense our spiritual history book as well as our owner’s manual.
Winston Churchill said, “Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.” The Bible has something similar to say about the importance of historical Biblical events in 1 Corinthians 10:11:
Now all these things happened unto them by way of example, and are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. (King James Version)
These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence. (The Message Bible)
My wife and I are WORD people! We believe that the answers for all our spiritual problems and needs are contained in the Bible. That is why we write these devotionals. That is why we teach and preach the Word of God. That is why Cheryl counsels people from all over this country everyday.
We do not want anyone to perish for the lack of knowledge. The truth and knowledge are there. We just have to make the effort to search them out.
All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; (2 Timothy 3:16, Amplified Bible)
