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Testing times (1)
'God has come to test you ... so that you won't sin' Exodus 20:20
Tests, exams: you can love them or hate them, pass them or fail them, but you can't avoid them! Sometimes they seem pointless, other times like your whole life depends on them!
In Exodus, Moses told the people; 'God has come to test you ... so that you won't sin.' God had given them rules to live by, to test they were living right. Not a list of do's and don'ts to spoil their fun, but commands for their protection and profit.
Jesus teaches us the importance of passing God's test: 'These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life ... They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit -but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards." (Matt. 7:24-27 TM)
It's no good lashing our Bible to the back of the cupboard, or skimming over the words and getting the general gist. We need to 'eat them up', know them and act on them if we are to pass the test of life.
written by Bob Gass
'God has come to test you ... so that you won't sin' Exodus 20:20
Tests, exams: you can love them or hate them, pass them or fail them, but you can't avoid them! Sometimes they seem pointless, other times like your whole life depends on them!
In Exodus, Moses told the people; 'God has come to test you ... so that you won't sin.' God had given them rules to live by, to test they were living right. Not a list of do's and don'ts to spoil their fun, but commands for their protection and profit.
Jesus teaches us the importance of passing God's test: 'These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life ... They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit -but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards." (Matt. 7:24-27 TM)
It's no good lashing our Bible to the back of the cupboard, or skimming over the words and getting the general gist. We need to 'eat them up', know them and act on them if we are to pass the test of life.
written by Bob Gass
