disdain for scripture

And the word of the Lord will be to them

precept upon precept, precept upon precept,

line upon line, line upon line,

here a little, there a little,

that they may go, and fall backward,

and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Isaiah 28:13

The leaders of Jerusalem had a deadly "ho-hum" attitude toward God's Word. They disregarded the word of prophets that the Lord had sent to them. They were bored by the Law they were supposed to respect and follow out of love and obedience to God. They no longer even had any cultural respect for the significance of scripture. It had became a monotonous litany repeated in routine, but not believed and obeyed from the heart. This would be the downfall of the priests and leaders.

They mocked scripture with their sing song "precept upon precept; line upon line; here a little, there a little" attitude. God saw them as scoffers rejecting the holy Word and rejecting Him (Isaiah 28:14). This attitude toward scripture would lead to a fall from which they could not recover. Jerusalem and its leaders, the officials and the priests, would be broken, snared, and taken away to Babylon.

I always want the Holy Spirit to awaken my heart when my Bible is open. I want my thinking to be crisp and my heart to be open. May I never, ever let my selfish heart treat scripture as repetitive religion. It is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. It cuts through my sin and life's confusion and gives me through grace the thoughts of God for each day of my life. In it I see Jesus. In it God speaks, and is there anyone else more important to hear than God? No way! I want God to always converse with me in His Word. I always want scripture to lead my life and show me my Savior!