Biblically Measured

“The purpose of knowing Scripture is not to help us get a 100 score on the heavenly entrance exam. It is to help us become equipped for good works.”
—John Ortberg in The Life You’ve Always Wanted

For the Eskimos of northern Alaska, having good trails and following them is essential to survival. The vast land-–many areas of it without any natural landmarks–proves difficult to navigate. In a snowstorm, even people familiar with a trail could get lost and freeze to death. So, trails are marked by tripods-–each with at least one piece of reflective tape.

The language spoken in this area has a word that means, “to follow” or “to obey.” It’s the word used to describe people following the trail marker –they obey them in order to arrive safely where they want to go. When the trail beneath their feet is impossible to see, thy can always trust and follow the markers.

When Bible translators working in this language couldn’t find a word for “doing” that matched the meaning of “doing God’s will” they turned to this word that means follow/obey. John 6:38 in their heart language says “I have come down from heaven not to follow My own will, but to obey the will of Him who sent Me.” This makes it clear that following God’s trail is what the Christian life is all about. Where are these trail-markers found? In God’s Word. It is essential to survival.

1 Timothy 3: 14-17
“…so you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God.”

2 Timothy 3:14-17
“…(scripture) straightens us out and teaches us to do what’s right.”

He turns my mourning into dancing...

“We are above all things loved—that is the good news of the gospel…To come together as people who believe that just maybe this gospel is actually true should come together like a people who have just won the Irish sweepstakes.”
—Frederick Buechner in The Longing for Home: Recollections and Reflections

Awkward and clumsy, our feet are too big for our legs and words mumble-flop out of our mouths as if our tongues have been anesthetized. While the “popular” kids are dancing, we fully expect to be left sitting on cold folding chairs. But this time it’s different. The Lord of the Dance has invited us to an eternal celebration in His honor. And he didn’t ask us to come and sit on the sidelines – He called us to be dancin’ fools at His party.

We are a people who admittedly and rightly deserve rejection – but instead, we are loved extraordinarily and eternally. The psalmist declares that this love is better than life itself. As we grow to know this love, we long for time with the Lover of our souls whose song of grace and truth makes all the earth sway in worship. We jump. We sing really loudly. We raise our hands. We lie awake at night thinking about all the ways He amazes us. Finding ourselves deeply satisfied by His love, we sing songs of celebration.

Johan Sebastian Bach was once asked how he could play so beautifully. He replied that he didn’t play the music; it played him. In the same way, the follower of Christ–the beloved and forgiven child of God–lives a life of worship moved by the Spirit of God Himself living within. It is the Spirit that teaches us to dance despite our big feet and clumsy nature. As we forget ourselves and see Him more clearly, this jubilant expression is less and less an event and more a way of life.

in the LANGUAGE they UNDERSTAND BEST!

Here is one story I heard recently: The "G" translation team in (a country in Africa I'll not name) was checking 1 Thessalonians when one of the mother tongue checkers exclaimed, “I go to church every Sunday and listen to the Word of God being read, but I don’t understand it nearly as well as I did just now when we read from this "G" translated Scripture. This is wonderful!”

I frequently hear stories of an individual who loves Jesus and has been serving Him for many years. Then the day comes when they read or hear God’s Word in their mother tongue for the first time. Consistently, their response is extraordinary, even though often simple.

One woman from Asia described it by saying that reading the Word in the national language is like eating a banana with the peel on, while reading it in the mother tongue is like eating a peeled banana -- sweet and good.