Seeing It For Ourselves

Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 26:3-4, And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon, by the road. But David stayed in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. 4 David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul had indeed come.

Over the years there has been one thing I have observed that has become a danger to us as a society, especially as Christians. We have become a society of non-thinkers. We have adopted the “television” mentality. This is the mentality where we allow others to think for us. We rely too heavily on others to “feed” us the information we should be searching out and gathering for ourselves, rather than sorting it wisely and picking it apart in order to understand what is really going on. We follow news stations and propaganda like dumb sheep being led to the slaughter. We do this with everyday life, and far too many of God’s children do this with the Word of God. David, in hearing rumors that Saul was in pursuit of him, once again, did not just assume this to be true. Instead, he began to have his men do recon, bring him report, then go out for himself and lay eyes on the location where Saul had camped with his men. In verse 5 it says, “So David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Now Saul lay within the camp, with the people encamped all around him.” As born again believers, who desire to worship the Lord with our lives, it is very important that we take every step to make sure that we are not jumping to conclusions about the things we hear. The first place to begin our “recon mission” is in God’s Word. The best way to know if the rumors we hear about what is happening in the world, the best way to know whether or not a sermon or teaching we heard is based on truth, and the best way to know how to respond to the gossip we hear about someone or a situation, is to search the Word of God. Once we have done our own investigating, based on God’s Word, then we can draw our own conclusions, based on the Spirit’s leading. There is plenty of good, solid, information out there, if we will only take the time to do the research, and not just believe the first thing we hear. Before we came to know Jesus as Savior, we most likely had a picture in our minds of who God was and what He was all about. Where did that mental picture come from? That picture maybe came from our parents, grandparents, someone we look up to or even the world’s view of God. In 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 we read, “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” How do we form a true picture of who Christ is, and dismantle the false picture that has been planted in our thinking? We dismantle the lies and the corrupt picture of God by taking in new information; by taking in truth. Romans 12:2 tells us how to do this; it reads, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” When the Bereans heard the Apostle Paul preach, they did not just accept it as they heard it; the Word of God commends them because they went back to the Scriptures they had to verify his message in Acts 17:10-12. When we hear rumors and gossip about a person we do not know, or maybe even someone we do know, do we allow that to influence how we see and treat that person? Do we just follow blindly along and possibly treat that person unfairly, based on someone else’s possible false information? Do we fall into the trap of causing further division of the body of believers because we followed juicy gossip, rather than turn to God’s Word to see how we should respond? Philippians 2:3 clearly tells us, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” When the Samaritan woman went back to her village and told everyone about Jesus, some believed, and others went and saw for themselves; then believed (John 4). As God’s children, we need to be wise about life in general. This means that we should not just allow ourselves to be led along blindly by every little whisper we hear. We must start with God and His Word and see for ourselves.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).