Index 3
Page 69
I used a software program to layout a business card for my website. After I completed the layout, I clicked on “print” and set it to copy several pages. It completed only one page. I tried setting it to print a different number of pages, but it would still only print one page. For some time, I just hit “print’ for each page that I wanted.
     
  
One day it dawned on me that the program was counting the number of cards, not pages. I saw that there were ten cards to a page, so I punched in twenty copies, and two pages were printed; just what I wanted. The program worked fine; my facts were wrong.
     
  
The news reported that the United States had sent a space probe out into space. Somewhere along the way, it was lost. Later, they found out that the failure had been due to a  mix-up between standard and metric measurements.
Men down through time have misunderstood the Bible because they had their facts wrong.
     
  
If someone asked you, “What was the fruit that Adam sinned in eating?”, what would you say? Many people would respond, “The apple.” Some might use the argument that men have “Adam’s apples” in their throats. The truth is that the Bible no where mentions what kind of fruit it was.
    
  
This just shows how we can be so sure that we know about something, but because our facts are wrong, we have the wrong answer.
    
  
There is a story in the Bible about some religious leaders who were trying to decide if Jesus was their Messiah.

John 7:48 Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?
49 But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.

50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)
51 Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?
52 They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee?
Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet

  
These men knew the Scriptures, but they didn’t have their facts right. They knew that Jesus grew up in Galilee, but what they didn’t know was that He was born in Bethlehem.

John 1:45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
46 And Nathanael said unto him,
Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

  
Nathaniel didn’t think much of the town of Nazareth. He probably thought that God would never send the Messiah to such a town. But he didn’t know how God does things. Who would ever think that the King would be born in a stable?

Hebrews 3: 7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts,
as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said,
They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

  
What is the answer for getting it right? The Bible will not work if it is twisted to mean something different than was meant by God.

Timothy II 2:15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

  
Study is one part of the answer, rightly dividing(not twisting) the Word is another part. But it is not all of the answer; there must be more to it. Stalin of Russia is said to have memorized the whole Bible. You can read about the sorry state of his life.

Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
 
 
Who are the “babes” that Jesus was talking about? Does he mean that only children can understand the Bible?
 
Matthew 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

 
Here we can see what Jesus meant by the term ”babes.” It is those who will humble themselves and see themselves as little children in trying to understand God and His word. When someone studies the Scriptures with a “look how GREAT I am“,  know-it-all attitude, they will not get it right.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

 
Another important part of the answer is to have a hunger and thirst to know about God and His Word. When someone is starving or thirsting to death, they would put their last ounce of strength into finding food and drink.

Psalm 119:125 I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.
126 It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.
127 Therefore
I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.
128
Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.

 
I must ask myself, “Is understanding God’s Word more important to me than getting a lot of money ?”(the gold of today)
 
 
Will I get the Bible right, or will I miss what God has provided for me and end up lost? After this life, I won’t get another chance to get it right! It is not up to God, He is willing. It is not about having great natural wisdom.
                             
                            
It is about our attitude.
CARDS OR PAGES
by H. Witmyer

Oh dear - no Java!!!!