"IT IS WRITTEN..."

When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness for forty days, Jesus responded by citing Scriptures He had committed to memory. Three times He spoke the words, “It is written,” and then quoted a pertinent Scripture that clarified what Satan was trying to confuse, or sharpen God’s boundaries that Satan was attempting to blur. “It is written,” means something like, “God has gone on record.” And He has.
 
​The written Scriptures passed on to us come in the form of real-life stories, pronouncements and predictions by prophets, heartfelt songs and wise proverbs, letters and and postcards—all written by more than forty authors over a fifteen-hundred year period of time, covering everything from the beginning of Creation to The End of it all. In it, we hear and see God; we come to know who He is, what He’s like, how He responds, what He wants. We also gain a clear picture of what we as human beings are like, what’s wrong with us, and how we might find the redemption we so desperately need.
 
The Bible was given not merely to fill our minds, but to shape them; not just to tell us what to do, but to drive us to the One who will transform us into who we were always intended to be.
 
For the Scriptures to have the impact God intended, we must consume them: we must read them, ponder their meaning, listen to them being taught, consider their implications, commit them to memory, and—most of all—respond in faith and obedience to their directives.
 
King David said, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).
 
Jesus, the Son of God, said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4, Deut. 8:3).
 
What do you say? Are you learning and obeying God’s Word?