Guarding Against False Teaching
As a child, my mother repeatedly reminded me not to follow strangers. I am sure all mothers do this. Every time you remind them, they say, "Mum, you told me this a hundred times." So parents, what are you afraid of? Your concern is that your children won't remember your warnings when danger confronts them and will let down their guard.
Psalm 119:1: I have stored up your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
When we hear a familiar song from years ago, we remember the words, but when it comes to God's Word, we cannot. Why? The answer is simple; a song can be easily remembered because you hear it repeatedly. Likewise, to retain the words of Scripture in our minds, we must spend time in God's Word daily.
When we look at the athletes and the time they put into perfecting their sport, the thousands of golf balls the golfer will hit to perfect his stroke, the thousands of shots a basketball player will make every day to perfect his throw, the thousands of times a child practices her piano lessons or his guitar lessons, shouldn't we pay greater attention to our spiritual lives? We need to immerse ourselves deeper in God's Word regularly. Then, we will not easily be led astray by shallow reasoning or new-age thinking disguised as Christian beliefs. We will also remain vigilant when danger threatens.
How can God's Word stored in us help us? Here are some examples:
A young Christian man praying for wisdom before a job interview is encouraged by a verse from Exodus 4:12 that comes to mind, "Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
A Christian lady who is shy to reveal to her workmates that she is a Christian is prompted by the Holy Spirit with Romans 1:16, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."
A person grieving over the demise of his beloved Christian friend is comforted by Psalm 116:15, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
A man overwhelmed with fear over a problem experiences peace when Psalm 56:3 comes to mind, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you."
If you do not store God's Word in your hearts, how will you ever know when God speaks to you? If you do not store God's Word in your hearts, you will walk through life in the pattern of your thoughts. As a result, you will be ineffective and unproductive.
Which of these quotations are from the Bible?
· God moves in mysterious ways
· Man proposes but God disposes
· Money is the root of all evil
· God helps those who help themselves
The answer is none of them. If you believe that any of these quotations came from the Bible, you do not know your Bible well. "Money is the root of all evil" is not Biblical either because 1 Timothy 6:10 says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
My driving point is this; we need to know Scripture so that we will not be duped or misled by others who spew out verses and use God's name in vain to achieve their goal of deceiving us.
We live in the end times, and false teachers abound, using God's name, twisting His written Word, and sugarcoating lies to make them attractive and enticing enough to deceive others. Christians not well-grounded in the Word are being led astray by this kind of deception. If you do not constantly feed on God's Word, you will never be able to test the spirit and be easily led astray.
Heavenly Father
Your love for us is manifested in the Bible. Forgive us, Lord, for not reading it more often. Sometimes we let distractions get in the way or put it off until tomorrow. But we come to you today with a renewed commitment to meditating on Your Word more. Lord, your son Jesus taught us the importance of your Word. He said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4). Let your Holy Spirit give us a hunger for more time reading, praying, and seeking truth. May that hunger fuel a deeper love for the Bible.
In Jesus’ name, Amen