Why This Matters | Love Letters

“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”  John 17:17

Imagine that you could eavesdrop on a prayer that Jesus prayed to His Father. What if that prayer was offered right before Jesus knew He would be arrested, beaten, put through a mock trial, and then crucified like a criminal? Whatever He prayed must be of utmost importance. It would make sense if He asked for strength, for it to be over quickly, or for His enemies to be punished. Instead, He prayed for His friends. His followers. Us. He knew He was soon leaving and they would be shocked, confused, and tempted to abandon it all. So He asked His Father to use His written word to make them holy, to set them apart from the world. Jesus’ prayer forever settles any question about whether or not the Bible is God’s inspired word.

But we don’t particularly like everything it says, so we’ve dumbed it down, watered it down, and put it down. We even question whether it is out-of-date or completely accurate. But if we claim to believe in Jesus, and we agree with the Golden Rule and “Judge not,” then we have to accept what He said about the Bible. Jesus declared the written scripture—which at that time was the Old Testament—to be God’s word. Truth. Even the parts that make us uncomfortable. The impossible-sounding miracles. The genocides. The bloody sacrifices. The law. It’s all God’s message to us, designed to show us how we were meant to live. It introduces holiness to an unholy people, explaining that If we want to know a holy God, we must learn to be holy too.

Final Thought:

To be “holy” is to be separate from the defiled; set apart from worldliness. How holy are you? (1 Peter 1:16)

Prayer:

Father, your word is under such attack, even by those who claim to be part of your church. Let me not be pulled into the trap of questioning the truth revealed in your word. Keep my heart faithful and my mind convinced. In Jesus’ name, Amen.