To Encourage You

1 Corinthians 10:6 “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.”

When you get in a bind, or need to make an important decision, to what do you resort?  Do you think about how you’ve handled a similar situation in the past? Maybe you think about what your parents did when they faced such a situation. Or perhaps you think of a mentor you’ve had in your life. You may ask yourself, “What would they do?” or “What did they do when faced with something like this?”  Well, in the verse above, we find one place we should always go when we face the difficulties of life, and that is the examples God has given us in the pages of His Word.  The Scriptures tell us that “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).  In this verse, “the knowledge of him” is referring to the knowledge of God given to us in His Word.

Imagine, the very knowledge of the omniscient God, available to us in the pages of His Word.  It comes to us in many forms there, such as in His laws, the life and words of Jesus, and the truths about God and from God given through the words of the prophets. But this knowledge is also given to us in the many examples God has preserved for us regarding the lives of individual people and nations throughout history. God has preserved these accounts for us because He knows it is necessary for us to know about them if we want to live a life that glorifies Him. He’s given us both bad examples and good examples. And He’s given us many accounts of the end result of each. 

For example, we have the account of David’s bad response to sexual temptation in his dalliance with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11. We have the record of all the sorrow, heartache, and painful discipline that followed David because of it. Then, in Genesis 39, we have the good example of Joseph when he was seduced by Potiphar’s wife.  Although Joseph was, at first, treated unjustly even though he obeyed God, eventually, through the providence of God, he rose to a position in Egypt through which God blessed and preserved the entire nation of Israel.  But, if we don’t read these things and take them to heart, we are sure to fail the same tests and miss the same blessings God has given us through the examples of others who were people just like us. 

So, are you prepared for the challenges of life?  Are you ready for its temptations and trials?  Are you equipped to make the most of every opportunity that God brings into your life?  Well, if you are not reading His Word, the answer is a resounding “No!”  Life is hard and filled with minefields.  Many that have come before us have crashed and burned, and many are doing just that at this very moment.  Both believers and unbelievers face very hard things in life, and often the very same hard things.  We are not adequate in and of ourselves to face such things. The Scriptures are clear about this.  In the words of 1 Peter 4:18, “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”  Here we have a warning to take God’s Word to heart, to have “ears to hear” as Jesus so often said, and to pay close attention to the examples God has given us. 

So are you doing this?  If not, who’s at fault when the troubles come?  Surely, it’s not the God Who has given us everything we need to live a godly life, rather than to crash and burn like the many examples in His Word.