How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
--Psalm 119:103-104
In my time as a pastor, I’ve come to the realization that there are essentially three kinds of Bible readers. There are some I like to call “castor-oil” readers, who see the Bible as bad-tasting medicine. But they figure it’s good for what ails them so they decide to take it anyway.
The second kind, somewhat related to the first, is what I call the “Shredded-Wheat” readers. These are the people who see the Bible as a type of spiritual health food. Yes, it fills them up and is good for them, but they’d really rather be eating something else if they were honest about it.
I call the third kind “chocolate-pie” readers of the Word. These are the people who savor the words of the Scriptures and look forward to the time they’ll be back in the Bible again.
So which of these does God want us to be? Well, while the Bible can help cure our ailments and is healthy for us spiritually, God’s desire is that our spiritual mouths would water over His Word. He wants us to truly delight in His commands!
Don’t dread reading the Bible. Get into it and savor every word. Delight in God’s precepts and commands. Feast on the Word of God and you’ll reap tremendous spiritual blessings!
SAVOR THE WORD OF GOD AS YOU FEAST ON IT DAILY AND YOU’LL EXPERIENCE AMAZING SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS.
Opposing Diana in Ephesus
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.”
Acts 19:26–28
Paul spent an extended period of time in Ephesus, unlike some cities where he only stayed for a few weeks. A great church grew there which would become one of the most important and influential churches of the New Testament era. Ephesus was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire and was home to one of the famed Seven Wonders of the World—the Temple of Artemis. The Greek goddess of the hunt, known to the Romans as Diana, was worshiped there by visitors from around the world.
The worship of Diana was central to the economy of Ephesus. When the church there began to grow, the new believers turned away from idolatry to worship God. They abandoned their former practices completely. “Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver” (Acts 19:19).
The merchants and craftsmen of Ephesus who depended on Diana for their livelihood were outraged. A silversmith named Demetrius sparked a riot by declaring that the Christians were turning people away from worshiping Diana. And he was right. Even though Diana was wildly popular and hugely profitable, the Christians in Ephesus were not willing to avoid speaking the truth and declaring allegiance to the only true God.
Today's Growth Principle:
We must not allow the popularity of false ideas to keep us from faithfully declaring the truth.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment