Because 50 Day 11
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:1-4
1Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
Today’s Prayer:
Jesus, help me know and trust Your Word.
Going Deeper:
Luke’s gospel is a wonderful beginning point for a study of Jesus’ life, ministry and teaching. The first verses, which are above, are also a great place to begin to build a confidence that we have an accurate account of what transpired in first century Israel. What is Luke referring to when he says “Many have undertaken to draw up an account…”? Luke wasn’t the first gospel account written, but rather he wanted to create an “orderly account” of what had happened. Who was passing on (handing down) what Jesus had done according to verse 2? How did Luke come to his account according to verse 3?
The purpose of Luke’s writing his letter was to give “certainty of the things you have been taught.” Often we think when it comes to matters of faith that we have to just guess, hope, take a leap of faith. However, Luke believes that we can have certainty in what we believe. How confident are you in your faith? How confident are you in the reliability of the Bible? One of the best ways to examine how confident we are in the Bible is to look at how willing we are to follow what it teaches. Does your life line up to what you read in Scripture? If not, why not?
Our prayer today is that we would know and trust God’s Word. It’s not enough to merely know the Bible. You can accumulate facts without it ever transforming your life. There are high school students that memorize the periodic table or geometry theorems that never use them in their life outside of the classroom. In the same vein, we aren’t called to blind faith. When we trust the Bible, we have to really know in what we are placing our faith. When our intelligent study of the Scriptures are applied to our lives, when we read the Scriptures and allow the Scriptures to read our lives, God is honored and we are transformed.
If you want to dig deeper into the discussion of the gospel writers as eye witnesses, check out this short video featuring J Warner Wallace, author of Cold Case Christianity.