Dangerous Business (Don’t Leave Anything Out)

How serious is the failure to follow all directions given? What happens when just one step is left out? Surgeons and nursing staff know the consequences: failure to follow all directions leads to 250,000 deaths per year! And not counting surgical supplies correctly results in “surgical souvenirs,” tools left inside the patient’s body, leading to serious infection. When it comes to air travel, 75% of plane crashes are due to pilot error. Sometimes it’s a simple as a pilot over-adjusting to the usual commands received in flight, causing him to miss a different directive. Bridge disasters are not common occurrences, but structural failure of one small piece can cause an entire bridge to plunge hundreds of feet, killing many people. Sadly, all of these tragedies can be avoided…

How does this apply to God’s Word in our lives? If our knowledge of the bible is unbalanced, we will find ourselves in trouble at some point. It is hard to receive the conviction of God’s Word, but very comforting to hear how much He loves us. Yet both of these are truth. God says that we are saved by grace—receiving the gift of Jesus’s death in our place and accepting His salvation. We do not attain eternal life by our good works (keeping the Law) still, He tells us that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. And while we must forgive those who hurt us for our own sake, we are also to seek the forgiveness of others who we have hurt. If we adapt to the world’ standards we will fail in serving Christ. Knowing scripture in part is dangerous, we must learn the whole counsel of God’s Word.

The Living Bible puts it plainly in 2 Timothy 3:16: “The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right.” Don’t leave anything out in your walk with God. Learn His Word, and let Him help you grow in righteousness.