Truth From the Beginning

So now I urge you, lady -- not as if I were writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning -- that we love one another. - 2 John 5

One thing I learned through my overseas work was that it is a privilege to own a Bible. Most people in developing countries, even Christ-followers, don't have one.

On the other hand, as a pastor in the U.S., I understand that the problem is (usually) not with ownership. Many people own a Bible. They just don't read it. Some think it is too difficult. Others read their Bible looking for something new or some new "exciting" truth and when they don't find it, they just quit. Of course, most of the Bible can be easily understood, and "old" truth is often just missed or (more likely) avoided because it is difficult to heed.

John reminds us that most of the commandments of God are not new, they are just new to us, and that our problem is not with remembrance, but rather with obedience! Perhaps we should stop looking for some grand "new" truth and begin to reencounter and obey the truth that we already know.

In any case, it all begins with the reading.

There is no poison on earth more potent, nor half so deadly, as a partial truth mixed with passion. - Michael J. Tucker