Turning on the lights

If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. -  John 7:17

When ignorance is demolished by truth, it can be alarming, perhaps devastating. Knowing that the lump on your neck is cancer may shake you up, but then again, that knowledge can save your life. No one likes thinking of the surgeon’s knife or chemotherapy or radiation, yet losing your hair or your appetite is widely preferred to losing your life.

How do you know what is truth or prejudice? Do you take someone else’s word for it or can you know for yourself? When Paul did a speaking tour in Greece, he came to a place identified today as Berea. The Bereans quickly accepted what Paul said, right? Not exactly. Dr. Luke says that they received the message with great eagerness but examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was truth.

They had settled the issue, however, as to what is truth. They were fully persuaded that the Scriptures were true. Do you have that kind of assurance? You may answer, “Yes! No problem,” but chances are, you are not sure. Many intelligent individuals today have never gone much beyond the cover of the Bible. They turned the lights off a long time ago, and ceased to think for themselves, accepting the mindset of teachers or professors, our culture and our society.

Ignorance is not comforting and faith is not blind. Turning on the lights may require some thinking, doing some investigation, asking some hard questions about your personal life and being willing to accept the truth that God will reveal to you. But through His Son, God gave a promise. Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Punch holes in your darkness and let the light in.