Thought For The Day

Tour Guide

James 3:1 says, “Not many should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment; . . .”

I was thinking about that verse this week when I boarded the three seat boat with two of my sons for a one hour tour of Caddo Lake. Well, I was not thinking about teachers exactly, but tour guides and their ability to find their way.

We had talked about renting a boat and paddling (couldn’t afford one with a motor) out into the vast dark water of East Texas. Ultimately we decided to pay a guy to show us around. Everything looked pretty easy until we made a couple of turns, passed a few hundred trees, and found ourselves in an endless maze of Lilly pads, Water Hyacinths, and Cypress trees dripping with moss and spider webs. I’m pretty good with directions, but after twenty minutes or so, I wasn’t sure which turn to take to get back to the turn before the last tree that looked like all the other trees.

Spiritually we have the same problem. We are convinced we can navigate the troubled waters of what George Barna calls “Spiritual anarchy.” Our society has created a “synthetic” and “syncretic” theology that combines religious ideas that are new and often illogical. If we are listening to the “religious” leaders of today, and attempting to forge a workable faith that encompasses the plethora of ideas promoted by everyone with a book to sell, we’re going to find ourselves in deep, dark water.

So I have a suggestion. Take one (1) book, the Bible, as your guide and compass. Recognize that it contains the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. Look for a teacher who clearly and accurately proclaims that Truth and no other.

You may not be able to carry on an intellectual argument defending the positions taken by L. Ron Hubbard, Shirley McLain and Maharishi Yogi, but you will be cognizant of the death of Jesus Christ to redeem you from the sin of unbelief, to sustain your life in abundance, and secure your eternal home with Jehovah. And you know what? That’s enough!

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