Somebody Get Me a Tissue

You know who knows the Bible really well?

Satan.

I was thinking about how he tests Jesus in the wilderness for forty days (Matthew 4:1-11) and the entire time this joker is spouting out Bible verses like it's some sort of quiz bowl.

It makes sense though. For a long time, I refused Jesus because I refused other Christians.

If your leader is supposed to be so amazing, why are you so...well...not?

And I realized a few things:

• People use the Bible for their own selfish gains. They twist the Word to reach an end goal that has nothing to do with our Savior. Thinks wolves in sheep's clothing. (I've been watching Scamanda right now and it's heart-wrenching how this lady used something so beautiful to manipulate so many people).
• Some people know the Word on an intellectual or ritualistic level. But it's never actually targeted their hearts. Think the Pharisees (or anyone practicing "Christian" who likes to wield the Bible like a baseball bat).
• Everyone is a product of their raising (oops, my Southern roots are showing again), and a lot of us don't take the time to question our motives. We don't ask God to search our hearts like David, and instead, hold on to the generational teachings of our parents and their parents (and so on and so forth) instead of letting God decide what's beneficial for our growth and what isn't. A lot of people live by the idea that "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." (And if that's your mentality, following Jesus will be a lot harder than you think, friend).

Ultimately, this is why we need to read Scripture for ourselves. Any pastor, priest, minister, guy off the side of the road can spout whatever he (or she) wants at the pulpit. But at the end of the day, we are tasked with knowing Scripture for ourselves and discerning what's truth and what's a blatantly twisted lie (Acts 17:10-12, Deuteronomy 6:6-9).

And we can only do this by having a REAL relationship with Jesus, not just a Sunday morning fly by on the way to the golf course or mall (I just made myself throw up a little bit by mentioning both of those things. Quick, somebody get me a tissue!).

Jesus walks right here, right now besides each one of us. We can either read the book He's written for us and use it as the life-giving tool it is...

...or we can follow in Satan's footsteps and waste our time (and God's) by wielding it as the weapon it was never meant to be.

The choice is ours.