#14 Question: Where is there room for my ideas?

Earlier in life, I found out that once a land contract has been written, signed, and delivered it cannot be altered or added to and must be followed exactly.

Following directions is the same way. I’m always trying shortcuts. For example, the directions to a rented cabin in Colorado requires many twists and turns. I was tempted to take several shortcuts, but my buddy strongly urged me to follow the directions given. Had I taken one of my shortcuts we would have never found the cabin.

A similar situation occurred with Ezekiel. He was commissioned by God to prophesy to the captives in Babylon. He was to plainly tell the people, “Thus saith the Lord God,” Ezekiel 2, verse 4.

To reinforce his prophetic activity, he was given a scroll and told to eat it, Ezekiel 3:1-2:

“And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat.”

The scroll stood for the word of God which was to make up an intimate part of his life and message. The scroll had an important and peculiar characteristic, Ezekiel 2:9-10:

“And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back,”

The front and back writing left no place or space for Ezekiel to write his opinions or add any new way to worship and serve God. The scroll was thus limited to only what God wanted the people to hear and do, not what someone might think it would be good to do or say.

This is how it was with all the prophets. God always instructed them to say, “Thus saith the Lord God,” no more and no less.

This principle is likewise true in Christianity. Jesus commissioned His apostles to make disciples, Matthew 28:19-20:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

Note that last phrase—teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. The disciples were not free to add their opinions, new rules they had dreamed up, or new modes of worship. They were to teach only what Jesus, God’s Son, had said.

In other words, the New Testament was not delivered with blank pages or spaces on which men could write their ideas on how to worship and serve God.

This point is forcefully made in verse 3 of Jude:

“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”

God’s will has already been delivered. In other words, there are no blank pages to write man’s ideas in the New Testament.

Thus, we need a ‘thus says the Lord’ for all we do if we want to please God.

The answer to the question posed in the title is ‘There’s no room.’ God did not put any space in the Bible for the ideas of men.

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