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Put It To The Test
John Tilton1 Thessalonians 5:20-22
Do not treat prophecieswith contempt, but test them all;hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.
Paul encourages the people to respect the prophecies by putting them to the test, in order to embrace and live out what is good and therefore reject all that is evil, including false prophecies. He doesn’t explain in detail as to how one should test the prophecies, but one would surmise it would be to use God’s word and the truth in what is being prophesied according to available historical and current facts.
This is a great scripture for today given all of the things we here on social media, the broadcast media and printed media, having found out through the current presidential election that so much is skewed, incorrect and outright fake … scary! Facebook, Wiki-leaks, texting stated so many stories and accounts – some found to be false and others we still don’t know the truth.
However, there is one truth we do know, and that is God’s word and what He calls us to do in view of false prophesy and false truths, by applying His word and His principles. Thus, the application being, what would God say as to the situation and story in how we should respond in a Godly manner and turning away from things that are sketchy. Furthermore, that we not get caught up in the social and worldly frenzy of hearsay and gossip, but what God would say in terms of current events and how we are to live our lives.
Dear Lord, thank you for providing us with the litmus test of how to put the things we hear and see to your test, by using your inspired word and example through Jesus Christ.
