The importance of knowing the word of God
Deuteronomy 17:16-19 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel. Because of our free will often people will refuse God’s warnings and get themselves in trouble that sometimes comes with lasting consequences. And as much as we wish we hadn’t done or said them, they can’t be retracted. So was the case with King Solomon.
Chapters 10 and 11 shows how Solomon amassed such large quantities of of gold that silver was considered of little value. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines. He accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousands horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. It seemed everything God had warned the kings of Israel not to do Solomon did, and it left him as we see in Ecclesiastes as seeing his life as utterly meaningless. It seems the man that had everything ended up feeling as though his life was wasted. Where did King Solomon go wrong, and could it have been prevented? I believe it could have been prevented otherwise God would never have given the warning we read in Deuteronomy 17:16-19. I am sure if Solomon would have made a scroll for himself of the law and read it all the days of his life, then he would have revered the Lord and obeyed the Lord. But sad to say he did not otherwise he would have not done what God said not to do and ended up as he himself said with a meaningless life.
As Christians we can not put enough importance on reading the Bible. There are many devotionals, articles in magazines, books, radio and TV programs that bring good insight and instruction, as well as Sunday School classes and Bible studies, but they must not take the place of you reading the Bible from cover to cover. Many Christians and pastors included become selective in their approach to studying God’s word. Today there is a great deal of attention to end time predictions regarding the Great Tribulation and Jesus return. This is good and please don’t get me wrong, but this may or may not happen in our lifetime.
As Christians we need to be mature in every aspect of our life in Christ. We would think it strange for a fitness trainer or coach to have the athlete to do only exercise for one muscle group in their body. While some muscle groups may be more important for a particular event, every other aspect of a person needs to keep up if the maximum potential is to be achieved. The same is true with the Christian as well. When we read the Bible from cover to cover, we grow in a maturity that is well rounded. In many ways the Bible is like a puzzle. We can leave out a peace here and there and can still see what the puzzle is supposed to look like, but it is certainly not all it was meant to be. And without having all the puzzle pieces it is certainly harder to put the puzzle together.
You may be thinking that you don’t have time to read such a large book. Well, you can read it through in a year by reading about three chapters a day. And you don’t have to think that you can’t figure it all out. For the most part it is written at the level of a seventh or ninth grade student. There are also commentaries out there like mine that can help you to figure out some of the puzzle pieces making it a little easier too. Like Solomon we really don’t have much of an excuse for not reading and knowing God’s word as a whole and not just in part.
I believe that the false prophet that will be associated with the antichrist will take advantage of Christians not having a good understanding of God’s word as a whole. This is what cults have been doing for years. They will mix a little of God’s word with their own thoughts and manipulate people into believing that they have a special word from God that somehow is new and overrides old thinking. God gave us his word for a reason! If Solomon had read it all the days of his life as God told him, then he would not have ended his life with such great regrets, and neither will we if we daily read God’s word. There can be no substitute for reading the Bible for yourself!
Prayer: Holy Spirit please put within our heart a passion, a hunger to know what is in the Bible. Please give us the wisdom and insight we need, so we will not take anything out of context. Use your word to transform us into the mature Christian that we need to be and you would have us to be.
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