My husband and I like to cruise around on nice nights to watch deer eating in the fields, feel the night air grow cooler, and gaze in awed appreciation at the gorgeous colors of the sunset. My eyes probably look up at the sky a little too much, but I do get to catch some of the most awesome, fleeting sights that way.
The other night, I was driving home from an evening meeting and had to pull over to take a photo of the clouds over the moon so that I could send it to my husband at home. The moon was almost full and the clouds were absolutely bookin’ across it! It was beautiful, mysterious, almost ominous but in a mystical, peaceful sort of way. Which I know is an oxymoron of sorts but clearly I’m struggling for a fitting description. Like my words, my camera didn’t capture the scene the way my eyes could. So I snapped a less than ideal photo and just watched for a while longer so as to remember this moment which I knew could not be fully kept forever in pixelated form.
As I took the photo, I noticed that it contained a blue circle above and to the left of where the moon was. That blue circle in the clouds was not there in real life, but it showed up on my phone screen and in the photo. It’s the moon, but it wasn’t where it should have been! It should be where all that light is, and that’s where it was in real life. I saw it myself and was comparing the photo to the real scene, noticing the error. Something happened when I took the photo, something with shadows and light and however cameras work, and it projected the moon’s image away from where it really was. There’s even another circle shape on the ground!
It was kinda cool and kinda weird. Why couldn’t my camera just show the moon where it was supposed to be?! Anyway, this got me thinking. I have many people I admire and look up to, especially when it comes to the way they live, journeys they have endured, and how they project the grace and love of Jesus. My favorite part of the worship service each week is the sermon, and I love hearing how others write, speak, and think about the Lord and scripture.
But. That’s not sufficient. You may listen to sermons, read devotionals, hear other Christians’ thoughts and interpretations, check out my blog or other such sites – but it’s not enough! And it could even be dangerous. That’s not an overstatement, either.
When we hear and listen to others, it’s wonderful! We love being a community and sharing our revelations, ideas, and how scripture speaks to us. I mean, shoot, that’s why I even started this blog. And sometimes folks are right on the money, helping us to follow after Jesus and helping us to better portray Him. And sometimes others are not on the mark at all. How are we to know? How do we know we’re not sheep being led to the slaughter by a wolf wearing a wool coat? We need to be checking out God’s Word firsthand. We need to pray, listen, and talk with Him directly, not just about Him in thoughts and theories. Listening to the Lord is more important than listening to anyone else.
When we look to the Bible firsthand, we can see who Jesus really is and how He really lives. We can check others’ ideas and know that we are not just blindly following someone who we happen to like or who purports to be a devoted follower of Jesus. Some might even believe in what they are saying, but it is not true to the Word. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 tells us that “A time will come when people will not listen to accurate teachings. Instead, they will follow their own desires and surround themselves with teachers who tell them what they want to hear. People will refuse to listen to the truth and turn to myths.”
Are we just listening to what we want to hear? When something convicts us or causes us to question ourselves, do we just dismiss it, minimize it, or find a scripture we can contort and take out of context to make us feel okay again, like we aren’t doing anything wrong? Are we trying to fit God’s standards, or are we trying to make Him fit ours?
We are told many times in Scripture that there are and will be many false prophets (1 John 4:1, Matthew 7:15-17, 1 Timothy 1:1:3-4, etc.). We shouldn’t be quick to accept anyone’s word, just because they’re quoting the Bible or wearing a cross or talking about Jesus. 2 Corinthians 11:14 tells us that even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. The Bible tells us that we can know the truth by the fruits of the Spirit. We can better understand God’s truth, the only real truth, by looking firsthand to scripture and seeing for ourselves! This isn’t to say that you can’t trust your preacher or pastor or a Christian author (I adore C.S. Lewis, myself), or a family member who has led you to Jesus or helped you grow in your pursuit after the Lord. But the thing is, it’s ultimately YOUR journey! It’s up to you! The Lord can and will speak to you directly through His Word and through His Holy Spirit.
Unfortunately, some people are like my i-Phone which failed me the other night. It told me the moon was somewhere it was not. But the only reason I could tell my phone was wrong is because I was actually looking at the moon myself and could clearly see that the phone was confused, mixed up, off base. The moon should have been where the light was, and I knew that, but my phone projected it out into the darkness. Maybe it was just too hard for my phone to try to put it where it belonged. Maybe my phone couldn’t handle it. Or maybe it was a wiring issue. Regardless, the phone was wrong.
Be sure that you are looking into the Bible yourself, reading about who the Lord really is and what He’s about. Sometimes, the lens of others will throw Him away from His light into a dark area where He never would be. Don’t leave it up to anyone else. Don’t leave it up to me. Someone else could lead you astray without even knowing it! Get into the good book yourself.
Psalm 119:105, HLC
sacred strokes 