True Words

I think that all Christians would say that the Bible speaks God's truth.  They may disagree on how much of it speaks God's truth, with some saying it is true from cover to cover, while others hold that some parts of it are true and essential and that other parts are open to a variety of interpretations and understandings.

One way to understand the Bible is to read it, and to ask God to provide understanding in what you read. That should be an easy and natural thing for Christians to do.  But like so many other things in life, developing and continuing a habit of reading the Bible and leaning on God for understanding can be a hard habit to start and keep going. 

For several years I have been using a Bible reading plan that takes me through the New Testament and the Psalms twice a year, and the remainder of the Old Testament once.  For me, following this plan has made me more familiar, in a general sense, with a much greater part of the Bible. I understand the lay of the land better.  I see parts connect in ways I had been unaware of before.  And, in particular, I find myself seeing deeper meaning in things that I have read, but not really understood well before.  I may have read the actual words, but without trying to understand if there was anything deeper going on.

All of which is to say that as I was making my annual trip through the book of Proverbs one half of a verse stopped me in my tracks.  Proverbs 30:5 begins:

            "Every word of God proves true"

Not some words of God are true. Not most of the words of God are true. Every word of God proves true.

Some of the things God says in his word are easy to understand.  Some things brings us great comfort and peace.  Some things give us a sure and certain hope, for this life and for what is come.  But there are many things in God's word that are hard to understand and hard to believe.  They confront us with the fact that God is God, and that we are not God. 

Behind the claim of Proverbs 30:5 is a greater truth that is not said, which is that God always tells the truth. Always. A god who did not always tell the truth, whose every word could not be believed and trusted, is a god who is flawed, and not truly god.  The world is quite literally filled with these lesser gods.  Gods of our imagination and creation, who are not really gods at all.

The God of the Bible, the One True God, the God revealed to us through the Lord Jesus Christ, is a God who always tells the truth. He is the God whose love is unfailing.  And he, alone, is the God deserving of our worship. 

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.