According to Hebrew tradition, when manuscripts of Scripture were being copied, if a scribe made one single mistake with the pen, the whole manuscript was ditched and the scribe had to start over. No typos allowed. A supreme commitment to perfection and accuracy had to be maintained because God’s Word is flawless and even its expression on paper had to reflect this.

Sometimes we too get sloppy with words. We don’t say what we mean or mean what we say. And sometimes we get sloppy in recounting what other people say as well. We say what we want to remember and skip the rest. This marginalizes the original author and exalts our pride, implying that we know the story better. Either way of becoming sloppy gets us into trouble.

Athlete, because God’s Word is indeed flawless (30:5), we better be careful how we bear it. We must steer clear of adding to it. And in case you don’t think we do things like this, read on …

Here’s how we add to God’s words:

• We take too much liberty to put our own spin on things. We discount what He said in favor of how we feel things should be.
• We change definitions. We soften our stance on sin, grace, faith, righteousness, scriptural inerrancy, etc. Changing definitions greatly changes things.
• We put opinions (our own or other’s) on par with what God says, creating equality of thought. We create other authority icons. That’s a technical foul.

Instead, let’s work a little harder and more carefully to:

• Know more of what God says about everything, His whole counsel.
• Resist the rush to say what we think He means or what God should have said or done.
• Simply take God at His word, letting the Word speak for itself.

When you read the Bible, are you more apt to say what you think, or do you dig deep enough to be sure of what God actually said and intended it to mean? Be careful. This isn’t just anyone doing the talking.

Prayer to consider today: LORD, help us to know You at Your Word, to know You better, to watch our words and to make You known as You really are.