Missing the Point
-
In December, 1903, after many attempts, the Wright brothers were successful in getting their “flying machine” off the ground. In their excitement, they telegraphed this message to their sister Katherine: “We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas.” Katherine was so excited that she rushed down to the local newspaper and showed him the message. He glanced at the paper and said, “How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas.” He had completely missed the big news! Man had flown!
On the day of Pentecost, just after the crucifixion of Christ, the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit. As they miraculously spake in different languages, the people around them were able to hear in their own language. While many heard and were amazed at the power of the Holy Spirit, there were some who in the face of this great wonder simply wrote it off by saying, “These men are full of new wine” (Acts 2:13). Can you imagine living in a time when you could have seen the Apostles filled with the Holy Spirit? Can you imagine living in the time of Christ and seeing Him walk the earth, do miracles, and be raised from the dead? Can you imagine sitting at His feet and hearing the Messiah speak of love, sacrifice, salvation, and hope? Of all of the great and wonderful things that were happening during the time surrounding Acts 2, these people just chose to see “men filled with new wine”.
What do we see when we study the Bible? Do we study about David and the great mistakes he made and the whole time fail to see the mistakes in our lives? Do we study about Moses and the excuses he made and the whole time fail to recognize the excuses that we make in our own lives? Do we study about Abraham and the times early in his life when his faith was weak, and the whole time fail to recognize the weakness of our own faith? Do we study about Peter and his “quick to speak” mouth that often got him in trouble and fail to recognize the times that our “quick to speak” gets us in trouble. Do we read about the good Samaritan and how the priest and Levite treated him as we pass by someone in need on the way home? Do we read about Adam and Eve and wonder why they couldn’t just stay away from the fruit and all the while we struggle with our own “demons”...and many times fail to do right. Do we read of Israel leaving Egypt and their lack of faith in God, their hopelessness, their desire to turn back and then fail to completely trust God in our own lives? Do we read of Lot’s wife looking back as they left Sodom and Gomorrah and then continually grieve over the “fun things” we can no longer do as a Christian? Do we read of the resurrection of the Savior and His power over sin and death, and then fail to completely trust Him with our entire being?
The Bible is full of great truths, yet these truths are only of real value when we apply the teaching. We can study the stories all of our lives and miss the main point. The point is to use the teachings of the Bible to grow, become stronger, closer to Christ. The point is to get to heaven, and that only happens when we apply the word!
