The truth according to God
You have worn yourself out,
asking for advice
from those who study the stars
and tell the future
month after month.
Go ask them how to be saved
from what will happen.
People who trust the stars
are as helpless
as straw
in a flaming fire. ~ Isaiah 47:13-14 (CEV)
Nothing brings me greater happiness than to hear that my children are obeying the truth. ~ 3 John 1:4 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Obeying the truth according to God is the only worthwhile pursuit.
PRAYER:
Lord God, thank you for your instruction. You know this already, but sometimes I listen to people who have dubious qualifications. Their wisdom is second-rate. And what makes it worse is that I have access to your first-rate wisdom. But sometimes you tell me things that make me feel uncomfortable. Help me to look beyond the stars and the flakey silly things that people tell me. Help me to focus exclusively on your word and to make it my only pursuit -- even when it is uncomfortible. You are the only one worthy of my ear. I am going to turn it to you and you alone. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
