Living life in the modern
world is like trying
to navigate an uncharted, rapidly
changing, unpredictable ocean.
We have sailed off
the edge of our maps.
The first need is to have a fixed,
unchanging reference point.
The North Star
is our triune God,
made known in the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Navigation, however,
requires much more
than a fixed reference point.
I know how to find
the North Star in
the night skies.
I don't have
the slightest idea
how to find my location
by using it.
Even if I did,
I would need the
appropriate tool to enable me
to bring the North Star
down to my horizon.
A Christian knows
that the Bible, the
written Word of God,
is the God-given
navigational tool to
enable us to reach our
God-intended destination,
which is likeness
to Jesus,
for the glory of God
and the good of others.
"All Scripture is
God-breathed
and is useful
for teaching,
rebuking, correcting,
and training in
righteousness,
so that the man
of God may be
thoroughly equipped
for every good work."
2 Timothy 3:16-17
But I need more
than knowledge that
the Bible is my
spiritual sextant.
I need to know
how to use
it properly.
The great example
of the proper attitude
toward and the
use of Scripture
is found in
the Lord Jesus.
That being so,
the attitude of
the Lord Jesus Christ
of Scripture
must shape my use
and attitude of
God's Word.
One of the constant themes
of the Gospels is
the centrality of Scripture
in the life of
the Lord.
The Bible filled
His teaching,
directed His choices,
and foretold
His sufferings.
He steered His life
by Scripture,
and that is never
more clearly seen
that in his encounter
with Satan at
the outset of
His public ministry.
Luke gives us the
account in
Chapter 4 of
his gospe1:
"Jesus full of the Holy Spirit,
returned from Jordan
and was led by the Spirit
in the desert,
where for forty days
He was tempted
by the devil.
He ate nothing
during those days,
and at the end of
them He was hungry.
The devil said
to Him,
"If you are
the Son of God,
tell this stone to
become bread."
Jesus answered,
"It is written: Man does not
live on bread alone."
The devil
led Him up to a
high place and showed
Him in an instant
all the kingdoms of
the world.
And he said to Him,
"I will give You all
their authority and slendor,
for it has been given to me,
and I can give it to anyone
I want to. So, if You
worship me, it will be all Yours."
Jesus answered,
"It is written: Worship the Lord
your God and serve Him only."
The devil led Him
to Jerusalem and
had Him
stand on the
highest point of
the temple.
"If You are the
Son of God, " he said,
"throw Yourself down from here.
For it is written: "He will
command His angels
concerning you to guard
you carefully; they will lift
you up in their hands, so
that You will not strike
Your foot against a stone."
Jesus answered,
"It says, Do not
put the Lord Your God
to the test."
When the devil had
finished all this tempting,
he left Him
until an
opportune time."
Luke 4:1-13
The greatest privilege of life
is to become a Christ-follower,
a person living by faith
in Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior.
The greatest purpose in life
is to become like Christ,
living a fully developing,
fully human life,
imitating Christ.
There are many ways in
which we cannot become
like the Lord Jesus,
for He is the God-man,
and the temptation
of Christ reveals
His unique nature as
the Son of God.
At the same time,
the temptation was
possibly only because
the Lord Jesus
had taken an
authentic human nature,
and in His victory over
temptation,
He employed the same
resource we, His followers
possess-the Word of God."
"Navigating The Storms of Life"
-Gary Inrig
"Master of Life"
from the album,
"As Long As I Breathe"
Zemer Levav
“The grass withereth,
the flower fadeth,
but the
Word of our God
shall stand
forever.”
Isaiah 40:8
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