What Should We Do?

I’m a bit of a Bible nerd. In general, I like to study and learn. I particularly enjoy studying the Bible and teaching others to do the same. If you’ve taken the Bible Study Basics class with me, you know one of my pet peeves is when people skim a passage and then say, “What this passage means to me…” On it’s surface, it seems innocuous but it implies that the meaning of scripture is determined by us, rather than by the intent of the original author who wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

When we approach God’s Word, we must first ask “What does this say?”, and once we have achieved a level of comprehension we can then ask “What does this mean?” The answers to these questions never change. The next question (and my personal favorite), is to ask “What does this passage teach me about God’s character?” Only after we have done this work, can we ask “What does this mean for me?” An encounter with the Word of God will change us. John the Baptist would attest to this. 

In Luke 3, God’s word came to him in the wilderness. As a result of this, “He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Luke records John’s encounters with several different groups of people: the crowds, the tax collectors, and the soldiers. 

“What then should we do?” the crowds were asking him?

The tax collectors asked him “Teacher, what should we do?”

Some soldiers also questioned him, “What should we do?”

When John had said to the crowds, and most pointedly to the Pharisees and Saducees, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father, for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire,” they understood John was telling them to turn from their wickedness, and change how they treated other people BECAUSE a holy God required it. They understood that tradition or ancestry was insufficient for salvation. They heard of the coming day of wrath, and some of them repented. 

What about you? Have you heard the Word of the Lord, and like the Pharisees and Saducees, found yourself unmoved, with a calloused heart, standing on your own merit? Or are you like the others, cut to the quick, and asking God how to live in light of who HE is?

Let’s ask the Lord this week, as we study His Word, “Father, what then should we do?” Let’s be a church who produces fruit consistent with repentance. 

Natalie 

If you aren’t already connected to a Community Group where you can dig into God’s Word with others, this is a great time to find one! Contact Pastor Jon to find the right group for you.