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Unquestioned
Answers
Years
ago, in Russia, a czar came upon a lonely sentry
standing at attention in a secluded corner of the
palace garden. “What are you guarding?” asked the
czar.
“I don't know.... the captain ordered me to this
post,” the sentry replied.
The
czar questioned the captain. His answer:
“Written regulations specify a guard was to be
assigned to that area.” The czar ordered a search to
find out why. The archives finally yielded the reason.
Years before, Catherine the Great had planted a rose
bush in that corner. She ordered a sentry to protect
it for that evening.
One
hundred years later, sentries were STILL
guarding the now barren spot!
This
is a classic case of "unquestioned
answers." It is a problem that
continues today! In my
judgment, unanswered
questions are NOT nearly as dangerous as unquestioned
answers! I
am convinced that MANY have grown lazy and content
with someone else doing their thinking for them, especially
in relation to what they believe about God and His
will for their lives.
Some are SATISFIED that they have
ALL the answers without even bothering to test them.
Some just ACCEPT what they are taught without
studying for themselves, while others REJECT
essential truth
without giving ANY thought to the consequences.
Can
you imagine... an adult man literally being
spoon-fed by his wife because he’s too lazy to pick
up a fork and feed himself?
Yet, how many grown ADULTS allow their parents,
their preachers, their peers, their teachers, and even
the media to dictate to them THEIR beliefs about God
and salvation?
There
is only ONE infallible source to which we may
turn to KNOW who God is and
to identify His will for our lives: the Bible.
Instead of allowing others to define OUR
beliefs through THEIR understanding of Scripture or
even the rejection of it, let us be more like those
noble Bereans who “were fair-minded in that they
received the word
[the Gospel] with all readiness, AND searched the
Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were
so" (Acts 17:11).
Through
the study of the Scriptures we learn that God desires
to have a relationship with each one of us through His
Son, Jesus Christ.
It is in this relationship that we have
abundant lives now and eternal life to come (John
10:10; Romans 6:23). This
life is made possible because Jesus died on the cross
to pay the price for the sins of the world (1 John
2:2). THOSE
who believe in
Jesus (Hebrews 11:6), repent
of their sins (2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confess
Jesus (Romans 10:9-10), are baptized
for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:38), AND
continue to live faithfully to the Lord for
their rest of their lives (Revelation 2:10) will
receive the crown of life.
But
don’t take MY
word for it! Check it out for yourself!
Let’s
be SURE that we haven’t been guilty of accepting
answers to life’s most important matters, without
questioning. May
we ALL have the DESIRE to be better students of the
Bible, AND may God help us to have the COURAGE to
follow our studied convictions!
God bless you.
Steve
Higginbotham /
David A. Sargent
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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