Our theme for this month: “Mistakes”
Our Bible verse for today: “Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.” Matthew 22:29 (NLT)
Our thought for today: “Knowing and applying the Word of God to our lives is the best way to guard against mistakes.”
The Pharisees were the Bible scholars of their day. They were the ones who were supposed to be the experts when it came to knowing, teaching, and applying the Word of God to everyday life. But Jesus informed them that their knowledge was actually pretty weak and therefore their application of Biblical truths was faulty.
The problem of the Pharisees back then was the same problem many Christians have today – they don’t really know the Word of God accurately and therefore they are not applying to their lives correctly. If you know the story of the Pharisees then you know that over time they progressively “massaged” the Old Testament Scriptures and worked them into a form that was a little more conducive to how they wanted to live. They twisted Scripture, misapplied it, created lots of exceptions to it in order accommodate their whims and desires, and then they created a lot of additional rules and regulations that went far beyond what God had actually said. Eventually they ended up with a highly legalistic, manmade religious system that was far from what God Himself had given them in the form of the Old Testament. And as a result, their righteousness was a sham.
While it’s true that we will never be perfect in this lifetime, and therefore we will always make mistakes, the best and most righteous life any of us will ever have is the one that is lived in accordance with Biblical principles. But in order for us to live that way we must first know the Bible and its principles so we can then apply them to our lives. And here’s the thing – we must know the scriptures accurately. We must allow the Bible to say what it actually says – not more and not less. The mistake the Pharisees made is that they ignored some scripture and Biblical principles altogether; twisted others to make them mean something other than what God intended; and then made up a bunch more to suit themselves. We must avoid that mistake.
Allowing the Bible to simply say what it says and then living by its principles – no more and no less – is the key to godly living. Knowing and applying the Word of God to our lives is the best way to avoid mistakes.
God Bless,
Oak Hill Baptist Church 