Sliced and Diced

Read: Psalm 119:153-176

"The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting." Psalm 119:160

Examine:

Any verse from the Bible can be taken out of context when it is viewed in isolation. This Psalmist did not study the word by looking for individual parts that fit his situation or conveniently backed up his beliefs. He absorbed the word in its entirety and came to learn that the sum of all its parts equaled truth.

"The sum of your word is truth" means all of it can be trusted. The totality of God's written revelation is not just true — it is truth. To love the Word is to obey it, and to obey it is allow the Spirit of God to adjust me towards it. The Bible is not a magic book that conveys divine life and earthly prosperity to anyone who picks it up and reads it. God's living Word communicates His life and power to those who read it, meditate on it, and adjust their lives to it because they love God and His Word more than they love their comfort or logic.

Apply:

I have grown up in a world where the Bible has been sliced and diced. Just about everywhere I look I see isolated verses posted on just about everything imaginable. Bridge over-passes, church signs, key chains, bracelets, hats, shirts, and on and on the list goes. I grew up being taught the importance of memorizing verses. I was told these verses could create an arsenal of weaponry to stand against attacks from my enemy. I was trained to read the word daily and try to find things that would help make my day better. I was trained...wrong.

The more I pursue Christ the more I am coming to realize that the things was taught as a kid were only partly true. The piece that was left out was the importance of knowing the Word in its entirety and the loving Its truth at the very core of my being. The entirety of the word almost always presents a radically different picture than a verse or passage viewed in isolation. If I am looking for relief and I have a good enough reference book I can read enough "feel good" scriptures to talk myself into feeling better. That is one of the benefits of the scripture, but it is not the main point.

The main point of God's Word is to transform me from the inside out. That means that most of the time the Word should reveal to me something about myself that needs to change. The Word is always going to lead me to a crisis of belief that forces me to take a stand of faith. It is always going to lead me to die to myself and follow further after God. It is always going to lead me to life, joy, and peace, but it is always going to take me there by a path I least expected.

Pray:

Father, Your ways are not my ways. I know that to be true yet I am often frustrated when You do not perform like I think You should. Your Word is truth and my ways are crooked. I know that yet I am often surprised when I am offended by the truth found in the sum of Your word. The flesh resists the things of the Spirit. I know that to be true and yet I am shocked at the torment I often feel as You move and stir in my life.

Father, I do not want to be me. I came to the cross and surrendered my life because I came to the realization that I am broken, lost, and destructive. Regardless of what my emotions often tell me, my true confession to You is that I want to change. I want to be in the center of Your will. I want to live my life on the edge of my faith and fully engulfed in Your power to change. The only thing that can lead me there is me applying the entire counsel of Your Word to my life and allowing Your whispers to lead me to make different choices. I ask for this from You today. Lead me to leave my sliced and diced Bible in my past. Teach me to pray and live according to the sum of Your entire Word.