Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Hi, dear people.
Don’t have time to talk. We have 10 minutes to get to our Gospel Sing at Pheasant Pointe.
Blessings.
Love, Dad/Ray.
We humans tend to be very selective in choosing ideas that we take home and live by—what we choose to believe. The building of a personal worldview and belief system really is very much like shopping in a supermarket where we put stuff in our carts that we like. Some factors influencing those selections are peer-pressure, tradition, “tribalism,” and personal preference. I observe that this tendency to make choices by these standards includes the multi-individual realm of Bible believers as well—the church. The supermarket may offer 38 brands and versions of mayonaise—and churces offer about 3800 brands and versions of the doctrine of salvation. Take your pick.
Consider the song that Israel is spontaneously singing in the face of this supernatural display of the glory of the LORD surrounding the dedication of the completed temple. I have reason to believe that it’s a song King David taught Israel to sing. It articulates a wonderful idea—GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME—ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD. I like that—I’m happy to put that in my cart. And the item next to it sure is enticing—HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER. But before taking this one home for personal consumption, I read the label. It bears a warning that says, “This is a two-part product. Consumption of just one component may be hazzardous to one’s eternal health. While HIS LOVE ENDURES FOR EVER, so does His hate—His hate of SIN. Both truths must be taken together to yield a properly balanced diet and maximum health.” Many will now scan the shelves to look for a similar product with no warning labels.
Let’s agree that we’re all shoppers. We’re all making choices over what’s good and bad, right and wrong, and true and false. Let me offer what I believe to be a very sound guiding standard for making the best selections: MAKE SURE YOU PREFER TRUTH OVER TASTE. But even selecting which TRUTH to be TRUE is a matter of choice. So let me offer another piece of sound advice for selecting TRUTH from the huge range of TRUTH CLAIMS—a selection from the words of Jesus when He prayed to the Father for YOU—“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:15-17).