Shatter: Leave Your Idols BehindSample

Day 5: Incorporating Scripture

The Word of God is so powerful. A wealth of knowledge and wisdom is packed into the Bible, and it’s a great source of doctrine that we can apply to our current situations. Spending time in the Word every day is a practice that we all could benefit from; however, hiding God’s Word in our hearts is just as important.

Proverbs 4:20-23 stresses the power that Scripture can have in our lives. It commands us to listen intently to God’s words. It points out that God’s words heal those who truly accept and acknowledge them. It also commands us to keep our hearts centered around God’s teachings. Psalm 119:9-11 takes this a step further and stresses that we are to know God’s Word and use it when we are met with sin in our lives. We are to hide Scripture in our hearts if we are ever to have victory over our sins.

This is something that Jesus himself demonstrated in the wilderness. Satan knew exactly what Jesus was struggling with. Satan tried to tempt Jesus three times while He was at a rough time in life. How often do you think Satan will try to trip us up when we are at our low points? He does it more often than we even realize. The difference is Jesus was always ready for the temptation. When Satan tried to get Him at His weak points, Jesus had Scripture ready to go to completely shatter the devil’s attempts at temptation. Satan even tried to get Jesus to bow down and worship him like an idol! This is a real-life example of how we are to use Scripture in our lives when we face our idols head-on.

In John 17:14-19, Jesus is praying to God for His disciples right before getting crucified. He was confident they were ready to be without Him on earth because the disciples were filled with His teachings. He commanded them to go out into the world, surrounded by wickedness and sin, and be the light, sanctified by the truth, which is the Word of God. This is another perfect example of using Scripture to live a God-honoring life. The disciples were nothing more than ordinary men who previously lived sinful lives. Simply being associated with Jesus did not mean that they were made righteous. It is because they spent time with Him, listening to His teachings and learning the truth. Jesus knew it would be hard for the disciples, so He filled them with the truth and prayed for their protection.

God knows it will be hard for us as well, but that is why He has given us His Word. In the sports world, there is a common saying: “The best defense is a good offense.” Jesus has been saying this all along. Be proactive. Go and fill your mind with the teachings of the Lord. Be diligent in your walk with the Lord; you will have an incredible defensive playbook when you are tempted.

Questions to Consider:

• Do you feel you have a good defense system to persevere and win the battle when you are tempted to sin?
• Have you ever taken the time to memorize Scripture? If so, when was the last time that you did that?
• Was there ever a time when a passage of Scripture seemed to be talking about the exact situation you were dealing with at that time?
• Regarding shattering your idols, is there a specific verse or two in the Bible that you can hide in your heart to keep you encouraged and motivated day after day?

Written by Kyndra