Know the Whole Story

What if you received a text message from a friend that said …"I have some bad news. My husband is at the Emergency Room, I don’t think he is going to make it.”  You would automatically assume that he was dying, right?  You would frantically call everyone and start a prayer chain.  Maybe you would even rush to the hospital to be with your friend.  But what if this message was part of a conversation that she was having with someone else, but she texted you accidentally?  Maybe the WHOLE conversation went something like this:  Your Friend:  I think my husband is supposed to be at your house at 6:00 to help you move.  Other Friend:  Yes that is what he told me.  Your Friend: I have some bad news. My husband is at the Emergency Room, I don’t think he is going to make it.  Your Friend:  He dropped something on his foot and we think it might be broken.        

Can you see where it is so important to know the whole story before you can understand it correctly?  This is true in life, but it is crucial with God’s word.  So many things are taken out of context.  One sentence can form a whole new religion!  What we have to remember is that God’s word will never contradict itself.  If one passage seems to be the opposite of another, that is when you have to dig deeper to understand the full meaning. 

As Christians, we get so caught up in the doctrine of our particular religion, that we lose sight of the BIG picture.  Understandably, we need to know what we believe so that we can preach it, teach it and share it with others.  Also, like-minded believers need to work together…you cannot have the preacher teaching one thing and another leader in the church teaching something totally different.  That causes confusion and God is NOT the author of confusion. (1 Corinthians 14:33)  But the big picture is SALVATION through Jesus Christ.  There is only one way to get to Heaven.

Different interpretations of subjects like baptism, security of the believer, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, missions, and even music have caused different churches to form.  This is how I look at it.  Our goal is eternal life in Heaven.  Jesus is the door that we must go through to get there. In John 14:6 Jesus says “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”   John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in HIM shall not perish but have eternal life.”  Jesus bought our ticket; we just have to accept it.  There is nothing we can do to earn it.  He wants to give it to us as a gift.        

Never just accept what someone tells you to be true about the bible.  Don't just say you believe it...read it and study it for yourself.  Know the WHOLE story.