I testify to everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of this prophetic book, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, written in this book.      Revelation 22:18-19 HCSB

Our Scripture passage is clear: We are not to add to or take from Scripture. We must also be careful not to twist it to suit our needs. Spencer Smith says, “We can do all things through a verse taken out of context”. This means we can even justify sinful behavior by taking a verse out of context.

I don’t think God wants His word used that way. I think those who do will pay a heavy price. This morning I read Luke 14:26 which is a prime example of what I’m talking about here. In it, Jesus says, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters-yes, and even his own life-he cannot be My disciple.”

It would be easy to have hatred and malicious thoughts about our family members and use this verse to justify it, right? Well, Jesus, Himself said to be His disciple we must hate our family members. This is why Bible study is so important. On the surface, it would seem this is what God is telling us.

What this means is that we should put no one before Christ. It doesn’t mean that we hate our family members, it simply means that Christ must come first for us to be true disciples of Him. If we are to follow Christ, we must put our relationship with Him in front of and above all other relationships, even those we love the most.

The interesting thing about the Bible is it’s easier to understand it when you are submitted to Christ. I spent many years trying to read my Bible but never getting too far. In all honesty, it was more like a chore or some type of obligation. I had a hard time understanding it.

Once I surrendered to Christ, I wanted to absorb all there was to know in the Bible. I bought a good study Bible to help explain these Scripture passages to me. I knew God didn’t want me to hate my family. We know God is love and He wants us to love others. This is why I had to not only read my Bible but study it.

God seeks a prophet in Isaiah 6 and Isaiah responded that he would go. God replied to Him, “Go! Say to these people: keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive.”

The Israelites had turned away from God and worshipped Idols. God was sending Isaiah as a prophet to warn them against this, but He tells Isaiah they will be deaf and blind. They will not understand. When we are not surrendered to God, we don’t understand.

We pull Scripture out of context to justify our sins. We just don’t get it. We think we can live as we want to live and treat others as we want to treat them and God will just rubber-stamp it and allow us to waltz into heaven for eternity. It doesn’t work that way.

Study your Bible. Get to know the God who created you. Understand His commandments. Discover His will for your life. Trust in Him and obey His commands. I promise you there is no verse in the Bible that gives you a pass to sin. No Scripture condones sinful behavior.

Whatever you do, don’t get it twisted.

Have a great day!