Have you ever desperately needed something …
…and had no clue where to look for the answer?
It was back in the 70’s and the Houston Public Library was blitzing the airwaves with the suggestion that you could call their research department and get an answer to just about any question you had.
So, the group of programmers I worked with at Gray Tool Company had a discussion one day about where the East began, and the West ended. I think it was the result of some radio contest!??! Of course, we are at work pre-WWW days. There was no Wikipedia, or Google. No Bing. Yahoo. Or any of those magical websites we take for granted these days.
So, we called the Houston Public Library, filed our question, gave contact information and waited nearly a week for an answer to come. Go ahead. Ask the Internet this question and see the variety of answers!
When it comes to living right, or Godly, or dealing with some spiritual need, then we often turn to the Bible as the source. But can we find the answer, or principle, or even guidelines, in the Bible. Of course, there are deep answers found with serious questions, and the Bible is not necessarily the easiest place to find a hidden answer.
But trust me, there is an answer there!
The thing we must realize is that the Bible deals with subjects from many angles. Some angles are not meant for everyone to try to understand, especially if you are coming from a beginners standpoint.
For example, Jesus quotes from several Old Testament sources when he declares to the tempter:
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4 KJV)
To find the source of his statement, you would need to go back to Deuteronomy 8:3, 6:16, and 6:13 in order to find the root. What this tells me is that Jesus was affirming a principle found in scripture from thousands of years before.
Often, the answers we need are the sum of many other portions of scriptures, summarized to face the moment we live in.
In essence, scripture affirms scripture. It comes from God and we depend on God to give us what we need in order to live today, or at some time in the future. What we need to live in all the trials we face is to return to the source of instruction.
The B-I-B-L-E,
that’s the book for me!
I stand upon the Word of God.
The B-I-B-L-E!