Bible Reading: 2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true. 2 Timothy 3:16
Caleb wakes up on the morning of his tenth birthday and stumbles into the kitchen for breakfast. His mom is wearing a big smile. “There’s something in the family room for you!” she says.
Racing downstairs with his mom right behind him, Caleb stops a few feet from the TV set and stares at the empty carton on the floor.
“You’re kidding, right? Where’s the video-game deck?” Caleb asks.
“Game deck?” his mom asks. “You said you wanted a box for your birthday.”
“You got me … a box?” Caleb says.
“Yes, I sure did!” Mom announces proudly. “Pretty neat, huh?”
“I said I wanted an Xbox for my birthday,” he cries. “Where are all the parts? I can’t play video games with a big box of nothing!”
Caleb’s mom is, of course, kidding. You can’t expect a cardboard box to run video games. Without a game console, cables, controllers, power supply, and games, all you’ve got is a piece of trash.
It’s the same with finding a trustworthy way to help you know how to live your life. If you want to decide issues of right and wrong, you need some standard equipment. You need a standard to follow. But if that standard doesn’t have some basic parts, it’s just junk. Ponder this:
A true standard is bigger than our feelings. It’s objective. It doesn’t depend on what you or any other person thinks or feels. If you think stealing is wrong but your neighbor doesn’t, how can you say she shouldn’t swipe your big-screen TV?
A true standard applies to everyone. It’s universal. It applies to all people in all places. You may consider it wrong to hit children, but if another culture in the world disagrees, who can say they are wrong?
A true standard doesn’t change. It’s constant. It doesn’t change over time. If standards can be rewritten, how can you know what the rules are?
Someone totally loving and smart knew that we would need an objective, universal, and constant standard to teach us the truth and help us tell right from wrong. God didn’t plop us on this planet without the stuff we would need for making right choices. He gave us the Bible as our perfect standard to follow, with all the proper equipment built right in. That’s way better than an empty box.
TALK: Why did God give you flawless standards of right and wrong? Is he out to annoy you—or do you feel his love?
PRAY: Thank you, God, for loving us enough to teach us right from wrong.
ACT: Explain to a friend what it means that our standard for right and wrong is bigger than our feelings … applies to everyone … doesn’t change.
