How quickly can you find these verses in your Bible?
- ‘God helps those who help themselves.’
- ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness. ‘
- ‘To thine own self be true. ‘
- ‘Money is the root of all evil. ‘
- ‘And there came three wise men from the East. ‘
Can’t find them?
That’s because they are not found in the Bible, yet you will hear people quote them as if they are.
Befuddled beyond belief!
I had quite an unusual encounter the other day. I was out shopping, heading to the checkout when I bumped into a woman I hadn’t seen since 2004. Maria used to run the crèche for a midweek women’s meeting in my previous church. After a quick summary of her life since and without a pause for me to respond, she changed the subject and asked if I believed in eternal life after death. I said, ‘Definitely yes’ and asked her why she wanted to know. A neighbour had been ‘teaching’ her about the ‘end times’ from a book and she had become confused about what would happen to her at the point of her own death.
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Would she die and lie in wait for the ‘coming day’?
Would she rise with Christ on the spot?
Would she hear the last trumpet straightaway?
It spun my head!
A bit of quick and necessary thinking
I didn’t explain all the different views that exist. All she needed to know was the assurance from the Bible that when she died she would be with her Lord and Saviour forever. We talked a while longer about her faith basing our conversation around verses like these three.
- ‘For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’ John 3:16.
‘Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him’ John 3:36.
‘I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life’ John 5:24.
Maria left grateful and happy. It was a five-minute interlude in our day but a meaningful one for both of us.
Sometimes simple is best
In my last post I wrote about being light in the world. From my shopping centre encounter we can see how our words can be light or how they can bring confusion and fear. On the drive home I reflected more on the doctrine of salvation and eternal life that I could have shared with her. At home, I found many other references in the Bible on eternal life. But my simple answers were enough for her that day.
Get your story straight
I also reflected that we do need to know what the Bible says and what it doesn’t say.
Maria’s neighbour was not careful about what he/she said to her. Let’s not make the same mistake but be women who know the scriptures and who quote it in context.