Jesus Is Our Path
E. Stanley Jones tells of a missionary who got lost in an African jungle surrounded by nothing but bush and patchy clearings. He came upon a native and asked if he could guide him out. The native said he could.
"All right," said the missionary, "show me the way."
The native said, "Walk," so they walked and hacked their way through unmarked jungle for more than an hour.
The missionary grew concerned. "Are you quite sure this is the way? Where is the path?"
The native said, "Bwana, in this place, there is no path. I am the path."
In this crazy jungle of a world, there is no path. Jesus is our path.
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6).
27 Contacts
The British journal of medicine reported in July of 2018 that a woman in England had 27 contacts removed from her eye. She would put them in but wasn't always able to find them, so she just assumed they had fallen out.
Actually, the lenses were slipping to the back of her eye and getting stuck. She just kept adding new ones in, and they piled up. But despite having 27 lenses in her eye, her vision was not 27 times stronger.
We can add more and more theological information to our minds, but if our hearts aren't transformed, it won't give us a clearer vision of God . Information without the Holy Spirit can't bring about the life that God desires.
"They cannot comprehend or understand, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see, and closed their minds so they cannot understand" (Isaiah 44:18).
Misusing the Bible
Ashley Despain now holds a dubious, ignominious distinction. Visiting an inmate in a Nevada, Missouri, jail, Ashley tried to sneak him marijuana and methamphetamines by sticking them into the binding of a Bible. Officials say they have seen many ways used to smuggle drugs to prisoners, but it’s the first time the Bible was the means chosen.
As incredible (and audacious) as that sounds, Ashley was not the first to misuse the Bible. How many have used the Bible as a means of enriching themselves? Peter spoke of false teachers who exploited listeners with false words out of greed ( 2 Peter 2:3).
How many have used the Bible as a means of defending personal sin or a sinful lifestyle?
How many have used the Bible as a billy club to pound others?
How many have used the Bible to peddle some false doctrine? Peter experienced that, too (2 Peter 3:16).
How many have used the Bible to manipulate and control others? Jesus warned against that very thing (Matthew 23:4).
How many have used the Bible to tempt others into disobeying God? That’s literally a satanic ploy (cf. Matthew 4:6).
None of us will probably try to smuggle drugs with a Bible. But, let’s be sure to “accurately" handle it (2 Timothy 2:15).