the oscars are on this sunday. i don’t know if you are into that but one of the pictures this year up for best picture is called doubt. it is a pretty powerful film. there is a scene at the end of the movie where meryl streep who plays a stern nun and school principle deals with deep emotion with some doubts that she is having about her church and about her faith.
doubt comes into all of our lives at one time or another. satan makes sure of it. do you know what the most basic fundamental temptation is? it’s the temptation that adam and eve had and it’s the same one you have every single day of your life. every time you’re tempted to do something wrong, this is at the bottom of it. when adam and eve were tempted by the temper. he came to them and said “did GOD really say don’t eat from that tree? did GOD really say that?” he’s questioning GOD.
here’s the most basic temptation and you get it all the time: the temptation to doubt GOD’s word. did GOD really say don’t do that? did GOD really say we all ought to do that? if satan can get you to do that, you’re going to fall for anything.
there are many variations of this today. one of them goes like this: “that’s your interpretation.” you share a bible verse with somebody and they say, “that’s your interpretation.” when you see a sign that says, “stop”, how do you interpret that? it’s pretty clear, straightforward isn't it? when GOD gives ten commandments and he says, don’t lie, don’t kill, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, GOD wants to say, “what is it about the word ‘don’t’ you don’t understand? that is not a matter of interpretation. it’s clear. but we like to say, “that’s your interpretation.” that’s the temptation to doubt GOD’s word.
there’s another version of this: “i know that it says this in the bible but that is for those people back in that time so those rules and regulations are back for those people back then. this is now, 2009.”
listen, GOD does not invent new rules for each new generation. the truth is eternal. it never changes. what was wrong 1000 years ago, is wrong today and it will be wrong tomorrow. it doesn’t matter what the opinion polls say. it doesn’t matter who else is doing it. it’s still wrong. and right is still right. it doesn’t matter if people say it’s out of date, a bunch of baloney, it doesn’t make sense, it isn’t logical, it’s nonsense – it’s still right. truth is eternal.
look at what JESUS said. matthew 7:24 (ms), these words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. they are foundational words, words to build a life on. if you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. it was fixed to the rock.
JESUS is saying if you want to have a stable home, you’ve got to build it on an unchanging foundation. you’ve got to build on a rock. people in california know this principle. you don’t go out and build a house on shifting sands in earthquake territory or it may float off into the ocean. if you’re going to build a solid house that lasts, it’s got to be built on a solid foundation of rock that does not change.
the same is true for your life. if you want to build your life in a way that is solid and significant and handles the stress of the 21st century you’d better build it on the truth of GOD’s word, because it is bedrock. it is not going to change. popular opinion is going to change, psychology books are going to change, what the talk radio hosts talk about are going to change. on and on. everything else changes. but GOD’s word does not. so if you want stability, you build your life on GOD’s unchanging truth.
just some thoughts up here on a cold bill's front porch...
i think i'll go in now and get warm. if you want to talk just knock on the door and come on in.
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