Who Said So?

            Two brothers were playing outside when their sister suddenly appeared interrupting the fun.  The sister told the boys that it was time to come inside.  The boys didn’t want to give in to their sister’s tone of authority.  They then asked her the question: “Who said so”?  The boys were not about to stop playing at the word of their obnoxious sister.  She then said those magic words: “Mom said so”.  The game ended and the two brothers walked obediently to the house for supper.

            “Who said so” is an important concept for life.  Who are you going to listen to?  Who are you going to obey?  What authority are you going to put yourself under?  We understand the legitimacy of family authority, government authority, and employers’ authority.  We must maintain authority in the schools, in the military, and with the police.  However, there is another authority that believers in Christ must recognize.  It is the authority of scripture.  We are told in 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”.  The Bible is God-breathed.  It was given to us by our Lord as His inerrant instruction manual for life.  The Bible is not just a book of stories and moral instructions.  It is God’s written authority for our lives.  It tells us what is truth, it guides our behavior with our fellow man, and it tells us all we can know about God, His Son Jesus, heaven, hell, and what the future will be like.  The psalmist says: “Forever, O Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89).  Psalm 119:105 instructs us: “Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path”. 

            God’s Word is not only inerrant, but also authoritative.  We are commanded to read His Word, meditate on His Word, and obey His Word.  We must align ourselves under the authority of Scripture.  You may ask the same question as the brothers asked their sister: “Who said so”?  Why do we have to obey scripture?  The answer is simple: “God said so”.