Imust understand that the Bible is not only my source of comfort, but my source of bruising.“‘Is not My word like fire?’ declares the Lord, ‘and like a hammer which shatters a rock?’” (Jeremiah 23:29). If I have never felt the scorching of the Bible’s heat or the shattering of the Bible’s blow, I am not making much progress as a disciple. The Bible is a sharp instrument; it pierces, divides, discerns, and reaches into the depths of my personality, down to the thoughts and motives of my nature (Hebrews 4:12).
I must beware the man who preaches a sugar-coated faith. Faith in God is not an Aladdin’s lamp that grants my every wish. I must avoid, as I would the plague, the man who preaches “Peace, peace” continually. There are times when the Bible will not give me peace; times when to comfort and assure me would be absolutely damaging to me. How can I sin and not feel the burning fire of the Word?
The false prophet is easily discovered. He is the man who offers nothing but honey, peace, joy, security, and tranquillity. He does that, of course, because it is what the natural man craves; it provides him a ready audience, a guarantee of success. A counselor who offers me a rosy goal but never mentions the painful, torturous road to it is not my friend. Jesus Christ is my true Friend. He offers me a rewarding future, but “with persecutions” (Mark 10:29–30). He wants to deliver me safe, sound, and holy. That is why His Word must sometimes make me ache with soreness and weep with bitterness. He knows where it all is leading—to manhood and womanhood tinged with glory. I respond with Mary’s sincere humility: “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word,” for “my soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior” (Luke 1:38, 46–47).
“Therefore I love Thy commandments above gold, yes, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem right all Thy precepts concerning everything, I hate every false way” (Psalm 119: 127–28).
Daily with the King 