​24. Or Face the Lion

If you don’t read Scripture, you’re in for a world of hurt.

And if you depend on someone else solely for the relationship you have with Jesus, that hurt will only magnify.

I was reading about Jeroboam today, specifically the man of God who warns him that Josiah will sacrifice the priests of the high places who have desecrated the altar. This prophet does everything as God has told him until...

...he meets a wiser, older prophet. I think it’s easy to imagine what the younger prophet was thinking: Here is someone who knows God much better than I do. I should probably listen to what he says.

And so he does. And so he gets eaten by a lion.

The end.

I think this story is incredibly important. If we’re not in the Scriptures, if we’re not in tune with God’s voice, how can we ever really be on the redeeming path? One of the most shocking things when I became a Christian was learning how few Christians actually read the Bible and just trust whatever their priest or pastor is teaching them.

This, my friends, is foolhardy.

Jesus was the fulfillment of the Scriptures. He fully knew their life giving breath and had God’s word inscribed on His heart. He even used these verses to defeat Satan’s temptations.

Why do we think we can do any better without consulting what God has written directly to us?

Man means well. Sometimes. But Christ and the inerrant Word of God are the foundation that should light your path.

Seek Him or face the lion.

It seems like an easy choice to me.