“Are You Cutting Parts Out of Your Bible?” October 25
Most of us would never dream of taking a pair of scissors to our Bibles.
We wouldn’t cut out a verse because we didn’t like what it said.
We certainly wouldn’t toss a page into the fireplace because God’s commands made us uncomfortable.
But could we do essentially the same thing without ever touching the pages?
What do we do when Scripture contradicts something we desperately want to believe?
When it confronts a lifestyle our culture celebrates?
When it tells us something about God we find difficult?
Or when it calls us to repent, forgive, submit, change, or obey?
It’s easy to look at a world that increasingly rejects God’s Word and shake our heads.
But perhaps we need to ask a more personal question:
Do I really believe the whole Bible—or only the parts I agree with?
In Jeremiah’s day, one king made his answer unmistakably clear.
As God’s Word was read to him, he took a knife, cut away each section, and threw it into the fire.
But destroying the scroll didn’t change a single thing God had said.
And while we may never physically cut up our Bibles, we can do something surprisingly similar when we ignore, reinterpret, or explain away the parts we don’t want to believe or obey.
So how do you view the Bible?
Is it God’s authoritative Word?
A collection of helpful principles?
A cafeteria where you can take what appeals to you and leave the rest?
Or something to be blended with whatever ideas our culture finds acceptable?
Today we’ll look at a king who tried to destroy God’s Word—and the uncomfortable question his actions should cause each of us to ask about what we do with the parts of Scripture we don’t like.
