The New Verse

 

“Dad,” my five-year-old daughter said to me.  “It is time for you to learn your Bible verses!”

“Really?  Which Bible verses do I need to learn?”  I asked her curiously. 

“The first verse is from First Second 4:28,” Elise began.

“I think I know this one,” I said.  “Is it, ‘All we like sheep have gone astray?’”

“No, Dad,” Elise said in a tone that implied that only someone who didn’t know his Bible would say such a thing.  “It is NOT that verse.  First Second 4:28 says, ‘Love confirms from evil.’  Can you say it after me?  ‘Love confirms from evil.’”

“What does that mean?”  I asked curiously.  This was a verse I didn’t remember and I have read my Bible through many times.

“Never mind,” Elise said.  “This is God’s Word and you NEED to learn it.  There is another verse for you to learn too.”

“What’s that?”  I asked, fighting an urge to laugh.  My daughter was deadly serious, but she wasn’t exactly making sense.

“This verse is even more important Dad,” Elise told me.  “It says, “All Elises should eat lots of cookies.”

“All Elises should eat lots of cookies?”  I asked her.  “Does that include you?”

Elise nodded seriously.  “Yes, Dad, it is in the Bible, so I guess I will need to eat lots of cookies.”

“I think you missed the verse that comes after that one where it talks about, ‘If they eat their supper,’” I said.  “You can have cookies, but you haven’t eaten your supper.”

This seemed to take Elise back – the idea that her dear old Dad would be as heretical as I seemed to be both shocked and chagrined her.  “I’m going to tell Mom,” she said, as though her mother would definitely support her campaign to add sweets to her diet.

I suppose it is not terribly surprising to find someone co-opting Scripture for their own ends.  Lots of evangelists and pastors through the years have tickled the ears of their congregants with words that soothe them and tell them that all Jesus expects of them is what they are already doing.

Show up to church on Sunday, act loving to the people in the pews next to you, and put a little money in the offering plate and you are well on your way.

And yet…

The Jesus I see in Scripture did not live a comfortable life nor did He expect His followers to have one either.  “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

Self-Denial.

Cross Bearing.

These are not things that attract people.  People these days would rather hear about “Your best life now!” and “Chocolate Chip Cookies without Guilt!”  Frankly, I would too, but Jesus calls me over the tumult and asks me to follow Him.

He promises peace.  He gives satisfaction.  He gives life in abundance, but only after I willingly lay down my life and my desires and take up my cross – every single day – and walk in His footsteps.

I suppose it is easier to read the things we want into Scripture, but it is not wise to add things to God’s Word – even if we desperately want a cookie when we didn’t finish our supper.