“…but what do you say?” John 8:6 [NKJV]
Read: John 8: 1-9
In the book of John 8:1-5, when the scribes and the Pharisees caught a woman in adultery, the first thing that came to their mind was a human opinion about the woman. The first thing they remembered was the verdict Moses, in the law, had passed on the woman—she should be stoned to death!
Nonetheless, they still brought the woman to Jesus and said to Him, “…Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say?” John 8:4-5 [NKJV]. And when Jesus gave His own opinion, despite all they had known that Moses had said concerning the action of the woman, they all surrendered to His verdict.
Oh, what a difference it will make in our lives; what an advantage it will give to us if, as God’s children, we will take a lesson from these merely religious men!
In our everyday activities we come across challenges in different areas of our lives. It could be a threat to our lives, it could be a health challenge, or it could be a financial challenge. At such times, what quickly comes to our mind is the opinion of professionals—doctors, economists—or those of our friends and associates concerning the challenge at hand. And then instead of going to Jesus and consulting the Holy Spirit to get divine opinion concerning the challenge at hand, we rather settle for the opinion of men as final.
However, in the book of 2nd Corinthians 10:3-5, the scripture says, “3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Such human opinions—no matter how reasonable they are—are the high things exalting themselves against the knowledge of God we have received, and we ought to, like the scribes and the Pharisees, consult the word of God to know what God Himself has to say about any circumstance we come across. And when we get his verdict, irrespective of the opinions of men we have known, his opinion should settle the matter.
Consecration
Father, in the midst of rumbling storm, in the middle of the rolling thunder, when the verdicts of men go viral concerning me, to hear your voice O God, shall be my priority; for only you alone can speak peace to my soul