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Wednesday, June 23, 2004

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2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3
Psalm 119:33-37, 40
Matthew 7:15-20

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"finders keepers, losers weepers?"

"I have found the book of the law in the temple of the Lord." —2 Kings 22:8

If we find the word of God, it is a life-changing event. Jeremiah exclaimed: "When I found Your words, I devoured them; they became my joy and the happiness of my heart" (Jer 15:16). By finding God's word, we do not mean finding a copy of the Bible or parts of the Bible as Hilkiah did. We mean finding God's word from the Church and her Scriptures "not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God" (1 Thes 2:13). To find God's word means to be approved by God as "the lowly and afflicted [one] who trembles at" His word (Is 66:2).

Because the Lord wants us to find His word and abide in it (Jn 8:31), the devil tries to make us disrespect, trivialize, and disobey God's word so that we will never find it, or lose it if we have ever found it. Our secular humanistic culture of death denies and questions that there is such a thing as objective truth. Even those who believe in some objective truth sometimes say the Church and her Bible are out-of-date and need not be obeyed, declaring that we are to "think for ourselves." They say we should not rigidly maintain that God's word is objective truth which all are responsible to obey. These diseased attitudes undermine the truth and authority of God's word. Reject these attitudes. Joyfully cling to the freedom which comes from finding and living the truth of God's word (see Jn 8:32).

Prayer:  Father, make Your word more precious to me than any pleasure in my life (see Ps 119:103, 127).

Promise:  "You can tell a tree by its fruit." —Mt 7:20

Praise:  Robin used to think the Church's teachings on birth control were "old-fashioned" until the Spirit led her to the truth about God's plan for married love.

Reference:  (For a related teaching, order our leaflet, How to Read The Bible, or our tape on audio AV 46-3 or video V-46.)

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert A. Stricker, December 13, 2003


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 18, 2003