I couldn’t believe that something that good could have happened to me. I was walking out of Walmart and there were a couple of grammar school age boys selling chocolate bars. I asked them what they were selling them for and what school they went to. They told me and I of course bought one from the kids for a dollar. I had the small candy bar in my hand and then I read what it said on the front. I felt so bad because I was convinced that I had accidentally cheated those boys. I had only paid one dollar for the candy bar and when I read the cover it said, “World’s Finest Chocolate”. Now I have seen high end candy that has sold for huge amounts and here in my hand was the World’s Finest Chocolate and I got it for a buck! I thought about taking it back because it was an obvious mistake, but I gave in to my hunger and tore open the wrapper and took a bite. I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the World’s Finest Chocolate! It was just one of those fundraiser bars that are made I bet in lots of hundreds of thousands. Did I really believe the writing on the wrapper…no. Because people glamorize, exaggerate and lie to get you to believe what they want. I knew what I was getting…I just wanted to make a small donation to the young men’s project. But they put that statement on the wrapper! You can say, print, videotape, publish or make a passionate speech about anything…but that doesn’t make it true. So how do you know what is true? That’s a great question. We need a measuring stick for truth and the Bible claims to be true. How can you know that it is true? Well, Jesus helps us here when he said that if you remain faithful to my teachings…you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Free to believe and free from the pressure of others who don’t want you to believe in God or God’s Word. There will be those that you and especially your children will encounter who will tell you that you shouldn’t believe the Bible. And they will give you some well-constructed arguments for disbelieving the Scriptures. Why would they do that? Why wouldn’t you want to believe what is in the Bible? I bet in most cases, if you were able to talk and listen to someone who is adamantly against the Bible, somewhere along the line you will find that their beef is not so much with the validity of the Bible but with what the Bible claims what God says is the best way for the people of earth to live. God’s call to obedience is pretty simple…Love God with all you are and have…and love people like Jesus loved people. God never tells you to blindly accept his Word, because you are invited to read it and challenge it and come to grips with the meaning and implications of what is there. So don’t believe everything that is written on a candy bar wrapper or said online or even in a classroom. God wants you to seriously read and think and check God out both in his words and deeds. And if you will do that honestly, you will have the opportunity to hear in mind and heart and soul God’s words which are truth, and it is a truth that will truly set you free.
Here’s our Bible verse for today…
John 8:31-34 NLT Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. (32) And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (33) “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?” (34) Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.
Remember I’m praying for you!
With love, PJ
Here’s our Bible verse for today…
John 8:31-34 NLT Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. (32) And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (33) “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?” (34) Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.
Remember I’m praying for you!
With love, PJ