Something the pastor said in church today:
Actually church was pretty good today. The 'predica' was entitled "Follow the Instructions or Pay the Price" and it was about how the Bible is our instruction manual. First, humans (especially men) have a tendency to NOT follow directions very well. When we get our E-Z Assemble Barbecue I think most men try to put it together on without the instruction booklet first and 90% of us end up getting it wrong. Women do a better job at pulling out the instruction manual and reading it cover to cover before even unpacking any of the pieces, they tend to be the ones that ask for directions when they're driving, but even still, women are not perfect at always following directions either. Wow, the pastor definitely did not talk about any of this stuff, but it just came to my mind. So... yeah anywho he was saying that humans just don't follow directions. Usually we're fine if we do things on our own using our own judgement, but if an emergency ever happens, we'll be lost. He used the example of being on an airplane. How many of you have been on an airplane sometime in your life? I'm assuming most people have been on at least one. Before the flight they give you those instructions of what to do in case of emergency. How many people do you see not paying attention to the people, but instead they are reading the "duty free" magazine from the seat in front of them? How many of them would actually know what to do when an accident comes? How many of them know where their personal flotation device is located? How many of them can easily locate the nearest exit without thinking twice? I'm assuming not many of us would get it completely right. And obviously there's consequences for our inability to follow instructions. In the case of the airplane, it could lead to our death. Well you know what? Not following the Bible can lead to death as well. The four points he made about someone who follows the instruction of the Bible are:

1. They know who to respond to - Both the devil and God try to influence us, but we need to close our ears to the devil and only pay attention to God's voice of truth
2. They know who they can trust - We need to trust in the protection that God provides us since he is our shield. But just because he is protecting us, doesn't mean that the devil won't keep trying to attack us. A shield doesn't stop the attack, but it blocks it and prevents it from causing damage. Therefore we need to get out there in the font lines of the battle and fight. And I don't mean we need to go around killing or even hurting people, because our fight is not against people (Ephesians 6:12), but we need to fight the evil influences of this world by always showing love to everyone. Sometimes we put our trust in our friends or relatives and they end up betraying us, but we shouldn't let that get us down because God will lift us up again (2 Samuel 15:30-31 - talks about how King David's son, Ahithophel, betrayed him)
3. They know where they are safe - Obviously we are safe when we are being held in the hands of God. Sometimes something may happen during the day that upsets us and keeps us awake at night. God will never keep us from sleeping. If ever we are lying awake at night it is not because of God because we are safe while we are sleeping in his presence (Psalms 4:8). We need not be afraid because God is the one that will fight our battles with us (Psalms 3:6-8).