“Pastor, sometimes it’s difficult for me to understand the bible. How are you able to apply scriptures to your life so easily?”
The bible has many purposes, but one of its most important purpose is to reveal the character of God through His relationship with people. This was stated clearly in one of Apostle Paul’s warning to the Corinthians. Let’s see how scriptures put it;
1 Corinthians 10:
1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea
5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Did you see that? The bible should deliver you from ignorance concerning the ways of God, and that’s because it contains several examples of how people walked with God. In verse 6, the Apostle clearly mentioned that the experiences of the children of Israel and God were for our examples. He doesn’t expect us to be idolaters, seeing what God did to them when they created idols to worship. He doesn’t expect us to be fornicators, seeing what happened to them in their fornication. He doesn’t expect us to complain, seeing that He Himself destroys murmurers.
Any Christian who complains after reading the account of Israel’s destruction clearly has a problem. God hates complains, and He destroys the harvest of anyone that complains to Him. Instead, He wants us to give Him thanks in all things.
The undoing of many Christians is that they always look for a scripture to quote or declare. While that is also a very powerful tool, understanding the character of God through the examples of those He has worked with makes you even more powerful. This means that I don’t necessarily need to quote a scripture to come out of trouble, I just need to have an understanding of His character in all situations. Sometimes, many of those scriptures we even quote are not from a place of conviction. And that’s because we don’t have examples of where that scripture was used. Examples strengthens our faith even more.
So by studying the life of Joseph, I know what God can do with a man who sanctifies himself. By studying the life of Daniel, I know what God can do to a man who would rather preserve the precepts of God than sell off for ungodly riches. By studying the life of Apostle Paul, I know how far God can go with a pastor who is also an intellectual. It’s true that you don’t have to go to school to be used by God, but those who went to school have a better advantage in advancing God’s kingdom – if they humble themselves to serve. Anybody who doesn’t believe this hasn’t read about Apostle Paul’s relationship with God.
You can’t go wrong if you live by examples. It may seem difficult at first, but if you keep studying the examples, you’d discover the secret. The moment I discovered why Daniel was ten times better than his peers, I simply did the same thing. The bible says he was ten times better than his peers because God gave him wisdom and understanding in all subjects. Once I saw that, I knew that God could give a person wisdom and understanding in all subject, so I began to pray for the same. As expected, God gave me.
I know that I can travel from one nation to the other without experiencing any form of harm, and that’s because as the children of Israel travelled from one nation to another, God didn’t allow anyone to do them harm, He even cautioned kings for their sake.
As I conclude, learn God, instead of leveraging on a few bible verses that you know. Learning about God through the scriptures will help you know Him better. The more you know Him, the stronger you become. Everything you see in the bible were written for our example. In Romans 15:4, the bible says, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope”. That’s right! The priority is not for you to know how to quote the scriptures, but to learn how to be comfortable and confident in God through the examples of scriptures.
I hope this has brought enlightenment to someone.
Remain ever blessed, in Jesus precious name!
#EmekaAnslem
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