"Bible Lore"
11/09/2009 | Author: RCW
A few of my recent posts have reminded me of yet another subject.

A classic pet peeve of mine is the enormous amount of "Bible Lore" out there. How many times have you been talking with someone and they say, "Well, the Bible says, 'God helps those who help themselves.'"?  No, the Bible does not say that phrase anywhere. It actually came from Ben Franklin.

Another great one..."God won't give you more than you can handle."  The Bible actually doesn't say this.  (Try "quoting" such a "scripture" to a person in a serious crisis.  Let me know how that one goes.)  You won't find the reference because it's not there.

In general, I simply hear the words come from someone's mouth: "Doesn't it say in the Bible somewhere...." or "What's the verse in the Bible that says something about..." and I begin to brace myself for the shock. I never know what nonsense might sputter out after the first few words. :)

The Bible (and spiritual things in general) is one of those subjects that everyone has an opinion about....many people are eager to share their own.  Many people think they know fairly well what the Bible says, but in reality haven't studied it for themselves a whole lot.  In short, "Bible Lore" results is a lot of muddled thinking about spirituality and numerous common myths about Christianity, Christians, God, the Bible, etc.  

So, here's a novel thought: how about we all make it a goal of ours to READ our Bibles and MEMORIZE scripture? That way, instead of being guilty of such embarrassing blunders of biblical illiteracy, we can know God's word, hide it deep within our hearts, and be ready to explain the scriptures the next time someone rattles off one of these statements. 

I myself am by no means immune or beyond this fault.  I have been praying and asking God to reveal some things to me lately and yet I know that the easiest way to hear God's voice is to open and "devour" my Bible. How about you?  Are you planting scripture within you?  Or is your Bible just a dusty relic?   When was the last time you cracked it open? 

-RCW
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5 comments:

On November 18, 2009 at 12:24 AM , Kirk said...

Good stuff. I agree that the Bible is a book that everyone claims to understand yet so few can really back it up. Thanks for writing!

 
On November 18, 2009 at 12:42 AM , RCW said...

Thanks for READING and COMMENTING, Kirk!

 
On November 23, 2009 at 12:08 PM , Anonymous said...

I enjoy reading your postings, RCW!

Regarding "God won't give you more than you can handle"... So what DOES the Bible say?

Relating to "God helps those to help themselves"... What do you say to someone who spends a lot of time at church serving but neglects his/her family, and asks "I've spend so much time serving God, why is my family such mess?"

 
On November 23, 2009 at 6:20 PM , RCW said...

Thanks for your encouragement and your questions, Anonymous! I typed out "quick" responses to both your questions and decided I had better just use them as blog entries rather than a comment. Stay tuned for an entire blog entry answering your 2 questions! And have an awesome Thanksgiving!

 
On November 24, 2009 at 11:03 AM , Anonymous said...

Looking forward to the new entry. You have a good Thanksgiving as well!