Our last post was about Rebellion and the struggle we have in submitting to authority. (By the way, share your thoughts/insights/questions in the comments area) On Sunday one of the issues we saw in those rebellion of the infiltrators in the church was the cause of their rebellion. They chose the wrong source for Truth.
I have one of those smart phones that has a bunch of useless and useful "apps". There are things I've put on there just in case but I thought I'd never use. For example I have a level with a digital bubble for determining whether or not something is plumb or level. The problem is that to use it you have to calibrate it. That means that I have to find something I know is level or plumb, set it on or next to the object and hit a button to set it. The problem is, without a level how do I know it's level? And once I set it, it reads level based on how I calibrated it. If I set it wrong, everything I gauge with it will be wrong. That's what these people did wrong- they set their gauge on something unreliable; something they wanted to be true. They based their actions on their dreams and not on reality and truth- God and His word.
The question for today is, what is the basis for determining what is true/right? Is it popular opinion? "That many people can't be wrong!" (remember the lemmings!) Is it how you feel for the moment? "If it feels good do it!" What is you basis of truth? What is your compass in life? You had better be sure because someone is following you and you don't want to be like a car I saw a few years ago with a bumper sticker that said "Don't follow me, I'm lost".
Is the word of God your compass? Then how well trained are you to use it? How does the scripture determine in your life, how to live?
What say you?
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Hi :)
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to let you know I love your blog and I will be checking it often. :) But to answer your questions...
You asked what the basis was for determining what is true and whether or not popular opinion has a say in it. I would say that popular opinion does not have a say in it (unless the popular opinion is biblically based, but I'm pretty certain that you aren't talking about that). If popular opinion did have a say in it, then truth would be relative. And truth cannot be relative if it is something to rely on and base your decisions on. The truth needs to be constant, universal, and reliable in order for it to have any 'real' meaning.
I'd like to say that my compass in life is always founded in the the word of God, but that would be untruthful of me. I rely way too much on myself to say that, many times, my compass in life is something other than my own feelings or thoughts. I know that I need to spend more time reading my Bible and praying, but a lot of the time I just feel too overwhelmed with the distractions of my life (i.e. school). Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed with relationships in my life that are difficult to handle and I don't feel as if I can take on another relationship, including God's. I know that sounds sacreligious, but it's true! So I would say that I am not trained well in using the word of God because I'm not in it enough.
I've been recognizing this not-so-great behavior of mine and it's been a bit of a wake up call. My mentor and counselor on campus have been helping me in dealing with my overwhelming feelings that cause a lot of panic attacks and nervous breakdowns. You know how I deal with them: I take time to rest and relax. You know what that leads to: Prayer and Bible reading. Since I've relearned these habits I have been having less panic attacks and have been feeling less depressed. I would say that I am learning to grow and have my compass be the scripture.
I don't know if I just rambled this whole time or if this had any insight at all, but I really enjoyed reading and putting my own input into the discussion.
Wow, thanks so much for in the personal insight! I think you are more similar than different that most when it comes to struggling but you know you are healthy if you haven't given up!
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