"You’re being too technical”

4/12/22 3:33pm

When it comes to your contemplation of the loaves —in other words, the pondering you do on the Word of God— don’t let anyone convince you of the idea you’re being too precise in your assessment of what’s being expressed in the scriptures. —that God never intended for His words to be ‘taken like that’. Or that you’re just 'reading too deeply' into it all, because it’s “Not that serious, bro.” Well, as a matter of fact, it IS that serious…

Mark 4:24 KJV+

And He (Jesus) said unto them, Take heed WHAT ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.

Luke 8:18 KJV+

Take heed therefore HOW ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.

The Bible is written in such a way that you can’t take “God made ABC and said that it was good.” to mean that ABC is necessarily good for man; and even if it is, whether or not it is good for YOU (personally) is yet another story.

Genesis 1:31 KJV+

And God saw EVERY THING that he had made, and, behold, it was VERY good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 2:15-17 KJV

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

GOOD (first mention); And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. (Gen 1:4)

LIGHT; good, sweet (rest), pleasant, promotes sight, enlightenment, wisdom, blessing, excels darkness

- - -

DARKNESS; bad, evil, bitter (toil), unpleasant, promotes blindness, ignorance, folly, cursing, inferior to light

It’s eye-opening to consider that all those positive things “good” can be, have, or offer, can (under certain circumstances) actually be pitfalls in specific relation to man…

  • “GOOD”: Literally EVERYTHING God prepared for Adam & Eve (man) in the Garden of Eden ranged from good to very good, yet partaking of the ‘tree of knowledge of good & evil’ doomed mankind— we were separated from God in our fall from Grace (see above)
  • “SWEET”: The lips of an adulteress drip honey but in the end she is bitter as wormwood (Prov 5:3-4)
  • “REST”: A harmless amount of sleep, slumber, and a restful folding of the hands will lend themselves extremely well to being overtaken by poverty and an aggressive lack (Prov 6:10-11)
  • “PLEASURE”: The man that loves pleasure shall be poor (Prov 21:17)
  • “SIGHT”: There is a way that, by all appearances, looks and seems right to a man but at the end of that path awaits death
  • “ENLIGHTENMENT”: “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.” (1 Cor 1:27-29 KJV)
  • “WISDOM”: “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” (1 Cor 3:18-20 ESV)
  • “BLESSING”: Ill-intentioned gift-giving leads to corruption (Prov 15:27; 17:23; 29:4), and favor is deceitful (Prov 31:30)
  • “LIGHT > DARK”: This one has me stumped… I’m having a hard time recalling any specific instance where the darkness was ever in any way more beneficial than the light according to the LORD, so this one I’ll skip for now…

These are just a few examples highlighting the fact that you cannot take for granted that what you read in the Bible is as straightforward as it appears to be on the surface; you may’ve heard the saying that “The things of God are simple and powerful” but even if that were wholeheartedly true, it’s a saying that doesn’t account for what’s easily lost in translation between God’s mouth and man’s ears. He's astoundingly intricate too (fret not, I won't be showing any long-winded examples of such).

The fact that Jesus had to emphatically ask His disciples why it is they couldn’t understand what He was communicating to them (Matt 16:5-12) helps to illustrate the point that you can entirely miss what’s truly being said if you’re not closely beholding a “7” to discern whether that 7 is a 10 - 3 or a 5 + 2; like I showed you above when I quoted Mark 4:24 (what you hear) and Luke 8:18 (how you hear it), it matters. Further proof of that is reflected here…

Joshua 1:8 KJV

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Did you catch that? Here’s another…

Psalm 1:1-3 KJV

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

ONE more for good Threefold-Cord measure, just in case you missed it…

1 Timothy 4:13-15 KJV

Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

The same way you can’t clench your fist without first closing your hand, you cannot begin to meditate on something you haven’t first hearkened (respectfully listen) to. And as for further incentive, just look at the result of it; enduring profit and prosperity— in your health, your material wealth/finances, and ALL else that you do.

(assuming you’re the righteousness of God in Christ)

Let the results punctuate the idea that taking to heart WHAT is being said —and HOW— is of the utmost importance; because time is all we have this side of heaven… and if READING/HEARING > HEARKENING > MEDITATING on what Jesus (through the scriptures) places before us can keep us as a fruitful evergreen planted by rivers (Psa 1:1-3) —healthy, young, and strong; not to mention well provided for and comfortable— it’s in our best interests (and those dependent upon us) to continually be doing as MUCH of that as we are given the Grace to.

Yes & amen

<3 ,

Kiwi

P.S - Meditation is how you get to the larger, submerged portion of the 'iceberg' of what God hides (Prov 25:2)  below the surface of straightforwardness throughout His Word; think about it- ANYTHING He would place even higher than His own name (Psa 138:2) must be more than what meets the eye and superficial understanding

PP.S - Jesus Himself IS the living Word, made flesh (John 1:14); And without Him, nothing was made that was made (John 1:3). Just in case you still weren't convinced that it really is that deep