[Darris McNeely] They say that most men will not stop their car when they’re lost, driving around, and ask for directions. It’s kind of a guy thing. I know – I’ve been guilty of that myself. Now ladies, there may be something that’s peculiar to you that you don’t want to ask help or directions for – I’m not going to comment about that today. But let’s face it – it’s a human problem. Human beings don’t like to admit that we might be lost, we might not know something, and we might somehow be inadequate and go and seek understanding, go and seek help, and even at times, correction.
Well, that brings us to the third key that we are talking about in this series on how to understand the Bible. Third key in this is to humbly seek understanding and correction. Humbly seek instruction and correction. As we begin to study the Bible and understand what God has in store for us. Instruction that the Bible is full of and, yes, correction – to correct our lives, our actions, our attitudes, and make us more like God. That, after all, is why you would want to open up the Bible and begin to study it and read it. But recognize that we’re lost at times. We’re off on a different side street and we’re not headed in the right direction and we need to get directions. That’s where the word of God comes in.
In Jeremiah 10:23 – a critical verse in here to help guide us in this – it says, “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself.” Sometimes we need a bit of a course correction, we need to be pushed back in line. He goes on, “It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” We need God to help us in doing that. And so, as Jeremiah prayed here, “O Lord, correct me, but with justice, not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing.” Make that a prayer as you seek to understand the Bible and to let it – its secrets, its revelation, its truth, its instruction, be opened up to you by God. Make that your prayer to God, to teach you, direct you, even to correct you, and go and do that in a humble fashion. God will answer that prayer. You’ll be very surprised at what will begin to be understood and opened up from the pages of the Bible.
I understand going to the word of God and seeking correction is a challenging matter. And be ready for that. We, and you, will have some things revealed to us that may be a little bit hard and difficult to deal with. But understand this: God’s word can discern our thoughts and our hearts and it can open us up to a way of understanding exactly what God has in mind for us as we read His word.
So be ready, as you set out to understand the Bible, be ready to seek and to take and understand that correction.
