Day 201/365- Micah 2:6

"If you can't say anything nice....maybe we need to hear it!"

"Don't say such things,"
the people respond.
"Don't prophesy like that.
Such disasters will never come our way!" (Micah 2:6 NLT)

The relevancy of the Bible is sometimes shocking to me. Critics sometimes say things about the Bible like, "We need to bring this ancient book into the 21st century" (as if we have reach the pinnacle of truth & actualization in our time & every other time in history falls short).

But when I read & study the pages of Scripture I don't see a culture or city or people that are hard to identify with. In fact, I see in the pages of Scripture headlines from today's world. It is eerie how similar we can be. We make the same mistakes, have the same questions, experience the same troubles that the people in Scripture do. This is both encouraging & disheartening at the same time. We tend to follow their mistakes more than experience their triumphs.

Today's reading for example is exactly where we are as a culture & especially in the church. Here the people are telling the prophets not to tell them about God's promised disasters. Thy don't want to hear the negative message. They don't believe destruction could actually come.

Timothy was warned of the same thing by his mentor the apostle Paul. "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear" (2 Timothy 4:3 NLT). That was 2000 years ago.

Again, sounds like today doesn't it? Think about it. The largest church in the USA is in Houston, TX pastored by Joel Osteen. They have 43,000 people come through their church every weekend. 43,000! He's a nice, positive guy but I think he has missed the main message about the Bible. He avoids being negative at all costs. Reminds me a lot of Micah 2. "Don't say that! Such disasters will never come our way!"

So really, not much has changed. We are just like them. We want the Bible to adjust to our lives rather than us adjust our lives to it.