“The unfolding of your Word gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130)
The next time you purchase medication, examine the little slip of paper (inside the box) that describes the composition, dosage and other particularities of the drug. You are bound to come across a long list of side effects that the medication could cause you and that could be disturbing.
Please pay attention to that tiny slip of paper, it bears a lot of information for your good; ignoring its contents could spell disaster and could cause you immense discomfort. To avoid scaring you to death, it is recommended whenever these symptoms - diarrhea, upset stomach, muscle and joint pain, nausea and vomiting, allergic reactions and liver problems (the list is inexhaustible) occur, to stop the medication and consult your doctor. The consequences are made to appear less dramatic. Medication with side effects of this magnitude however constitute enormous risks to our personal health. The bottom line, sadly enough, is that medication that is intended to provide a cure could end up killing you.
Imagine what this would mean for the illiterate who has a medical condition for which such drug is being administered? He discovers after a time that for having failed to read the fine print, he is worst off clinically than before.
While side effects could result from taking medication to cure a particular ailment, it is amazing how someone can suffer side effects for failing to worship the only true God and for ignoring the contents of His Word to us, the Bible. The more you dig into and explore its contents, the more you discover its wealth and riches. It is medication for the soul – the inner man. Until you become familiar with its contents, you are not aware of what God has in store for you. A treasure that is unearthed is no treasure at all; it remains hidden and inaccessible until someone finds it. It becomes valuable when it is unearthed and its true value is made known. So it is with the Word of God which is like a shield and a fortress to us to help us brave it through this wicked world.
Blurred vision
Your vision is blurred when you cannot see things in their true colour. Driving through heavy traffic on a foggy day and being unable to see clearly through the windscreen of your car can be daunting. In fact, driving under such conditions will not get you very far, unfortunately. Traffic grinds to a halt, otherwise you will just ram into another car.
So it is when, the Word of God, the Bible, that should lighten our path, is absent from our lives. Without it, we cannot claim to see very far and therefore won’t make any headway in our spiritual life. The Bible serves as a lamp to our feet. (Psalm 119:105) Use it so that you do not stumble.
Callousness
Callousness develops over time. All your life you have been denying the existence of God and the sonship of our Lord Jesus. Today nothing that you hear about Him moves or appeals to you. Your senses are numb and have become impervious to the Word of God; the word that brings hope to the hopeless. Our Lord Jesus declared: “The words I have spoken, are spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63)
“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…” (Hebrews 3:7-8) Jesus is the way out of that rut. Turn to Him for help and He will bring about that much desired change in your life if you desire to seek His face. “You must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. “ (James 1:6)
Hard of hearing
How many times have you heard the gospel of Jesus Christ? Yet, no end of reasoning could change your mind that He is the only mediator between God and humankind. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) Biblical truths about life lived in the fear of God you have easily brushed aside as baseless. You pose as the one who created heaven and earth. Arguments intended to arouse your interest about God’s existence fall on deaf ears. Begin to listen to the Word of God so that it can percolate into your spirit that your sense of hearing may be restored.
Weathercock
Because you have no reference point, you have become susceptible to all kinds of man-made influences. You easily lose your bearings. Like a weathercock, when the wind blows east, you turn east; when it blows north you turn north. You espouse every ‘wind of doctrine’ because you are not grounded in your faith. In this life you have to believe in something. Better still, you have to believe in Him who is able to do exceedingly more than we can expect. Paul, the apostle, offers advice to his disciple Timothy. “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16)
Living in fear
Perhaps you are living in fear, it is one of those side effects that can be worrisome. It takes the wind out of your sail and you are wary of running aground. Your very thoughts have become the source of constant torment. Anything could happen to you tomorrow. That kind of feeling is crippling. The Bible invites us all to fear and qualifies it “the beginning of wisdom.” (Psalm 111:10) Our Lord Jesus will allay all those fears; He says to you today; “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” (John 14:1)
These side effects resulting from a lack of knowledge of God’s Word are not intended to kill you, instead, they point to a vacuum in your life that yearns to be filled. “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
God wants us alive so that we might be objects of His bounteous goodness.
