On the Word of God

One of the chapters I read today for my devotional reading was 1 Corinthians 14, where Paul talks about the gifts of prophecy and tongues. I was thinking that I wouldn't be writing anything in my blog about this, but it brought to mind something that happened to me when I was teaching in a Christian school.

There was a student there who started telling other students that there were only about five people in the whole school who were really saved, and that the teachers weren't really Christians because we didn't speak in tongues. He was of the belief that if you were truly saved, then the Holy Spirit would cause you to speak in tongues, as happened to the early church in Acts. I had several distressed students come to me in tears because they were afraid they weren't saved and were going to hell.

I directed them to this particular chapter. While I have never spoken in tongues, I think it would be amazing to converse with God in a language that I had never heard before - that would be a fantastic jolt to my faith! But I know that even if I don't speak in tongues, I have still accepted Jesus as my Saviour and received the Holy Spirit and I am saved. Paul actually says that the gift of prophecy is better than the gift of tongues (v. 5) because it edifies other believers, but speaking in tongues only builds up the speaker (unless he interprets).

Verse 5 says, "I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy." This would imply that not everyone who believes will speak in tongues, and that's okay. Paul goes on to say in verse 19, "But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct than ten thousand words in a tongue."

It's funny how God brings about learning - my reading today also consisted of several chapters of Proverbs, which spoke about wisdom and knowledge keeping us from sin. "Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost you all you have, get understanding." (Proverbs 4:7) I also read an online devotional today called "Dying for Lack of Knowledge" about how we can't take God's word lightly. It is important to know and understand His word.

If I didn't have the Scriptures to show the students who were told they weren't saved because they didn't speak in tongues, how credible would I have been disputing the other student's claim?

I have been slacking off on reading my Bible for quite awhile, but I think God is trying to show me that I need to keep reading. I've read the Bible through several times, and I was getting complacent, thinking that I had read it all, so what else could I possibly learn? (Silly me!) God will continually show me more and more. That's the beauty of His word. We can never know all of it - He will always show us something new and relevant if we take the time to just dig in!