We purchased a new kitchen nook this past week and on Sunday I put it together. There were a couple of times as I was building it that I didn’t read the instructions correctly and got to a certain point and realized something was wrong. So I had to take the project apart to the point where I misread or didn’t pay attention and then start again from that point. This also used to happen to me as a kid when building a Lego set. The instructions are always there but sometimes they just weren’t read correctly and then what was being built was incorrectly assembled.
God is very precise. His instruction manual (the Bible) is there for us to learn from and to lean on. When we start to lean on our own understanding and stop seeking Him in ALL of our ways, then we start to build in a way that is off center and when we reach a critical point, we hopefully realize that we have been building in a wrong way, and then we have to start to tear down those bad ways and get back to the point where we are once again focused on how to live God’s Way.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 states a big warning for us: “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
Our daily work in behaving as a Christian needs to be in our minds. It needs to be constantly built on. We do this by renewing our relationship with God through prayer and meditation and then find our answers and our strength by turning to the Scriptures. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
But if we are not actively studying, then we are not learning and seeking God. We will begin to lose our precision. Satan is all about trying to distract us from the Truth and cause us to fall away from God. When we do something over and over again, we reach the point where we can do something very well, maybe without even looking at an instruction manual. The Bible though is an interesting manual in that it is a living manual that requires constant study as new information is actively being released to God’s true servants and the knowledge of it. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s word is ALIVE and ACTIVE. If we believe this to be the case, then why would we NOT want to be reading from the Word of God?
One of the greatest gifts we have is that the Word of God is available to each of us. This has not always been the case throughout history. With this in mind, we see that God tells us in Joshua 1:8 that we need to be studying it: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” When we study, we put out other thoughts and focus on what matters. This is true in anything we do. When we study a lot about something, we start to not only think that way but to act on those things that we have studied.
Another warning to remain precisely in tune with God’s Word is found in Revelation 1:3: “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.”
The time is drawing nearer as we continue to closely watch world events and line them up with biblical prophecy. We have the time now to become precise with God’s Word. Let us make sure we are putting in the effort that is needed. Romans 15:4 says: “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” We can have comfort from God’s Word if we are actually studying from it and learning, even in the most difficult of times. King David went through a lot of terrible times, yet his words in the book of Psalms always showed that he was precisely focused on God and dedicated in attempting to let God remain in control even in the most fearsome of circumstances.
We need to be precise when it comes to seeking God and reading His Word. We can have faith that the Word of God holds keys for us pertaining to our lives. Psalm 12:6 says that “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” That is precision. And it is the one thing that doesn’t change with time. It stays true for us and we can always rely on it. When we become precise in this Way, then we can have a proper relationship with the great Creator and Sustainer of our universe.
