AUGUST 28, 2 Peter 3:14-18

Darrin sat down on the living room floor and dumped out the contents of a box. “I see you’re going to work on your new model,” observed Dad. Darrin nodded and began to fit pieces together. “Dad, there’s something I’ve been wondering,” he said as he worked. “I was at Bob’s house, and his dad was telling Bob’s mom about a man who is really mean to his wife and kids. This guy excused it by saying he was just being the head of the house, like the Bible says husbands and fathers should be.” Dad frowned as Darrin continued. “It doesn’t always work out right when you try to obey the Bible, does it?” “It sounds to me like that man wasn’t really obeying the Bible at all,” said Dad. “He certainly was taking a verse out of context and wasn’t interpreting and using it in the right way.” “What does ‘out of context’ mean?” Darrin wanted to know.

“It means to use a verse in such a way as to change its meaning by not paying attention to what is said in the rest of the chapter or in other parts of the Bible,” explained Dad. As Dad spoke, Darrin sighed and threw down two of the model pieces he had been trying to fasten together. “These things don’t fit into each other right,” Darrin grumbled.

Dad looked at the model more closely. “No? Are you sure you followed the directions?” he asked. “Of course!” Darrin looked at the instruction sheet. “It says right here, ‘Snap section E onto section D.’ I tried that, and it won’t work!” Dad pointed to another part of the page. “Ah! But this says, ‘While attaching E to D, press down on tab C.’” Dad quickly assembled the sections and handed them to Darrin. “Wow! I guess I didn’t read far enough. Thanks, Dad!” Darrin smiled.

“As you just saw, it’s not enough to follow part of the instructions,” Dad said. “You have to read them carefully and make sure you understand them completely. It’s like that with the Bible, too. When people take verses out of context or choose to follow only part of God’s instructions and ignore the rest, they get into trouble.”

Thought: Do some things in the Bible sound strange to you? Have you heard someone claim the Bible says something that doesn’t sound right? The Bible is God’s perfect, inspired and preserved Word, but it must be read carefully and prayerfully.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help me understand more and more of the Bible as I study it. This is my plea in Jesus’ name, Amen.