I once heard of a Christian having a Bible study with a friend about what one must do to be saved. He opened his Bible and urged the friend to read several passages which clearly revealed God’s plan of salvation. The friend’s reply was, “There are none of these verses in my Bible.” She went and got her Bible, and she was exactly right. She had literally cut out every one of the verses from her own Bible and thrown away those which she did not like.
As strange as it might seem, this was not the first time this ever happened. Less than 20 years before Jerusalem was destroyed and taken into Babylon, Jeremiah was pleading for all men, even the king, to change and return to God. A copy of the book of Jeremiah was brought to King Jehoiakim and read in his presence. “And it happened when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire” (Jer. 36:23). His view was that if you do not like what God says just cut it out of the Bible.
Human nature does not change that much. While no one is actually cutting verses out of the Bible, their actions show that their hearts are so much like Jehoiakim. There are several ways to “cut verses out of the Bible.”
There are some who, knowing that God would not approve of what they are doing, simply just never read the Bible. When encouraged by others to come to worship, they are adamant in the way they respond. They just cut God out of their lives.
There are also those who read the Bible trying to find verses which justify what they have decided is right. The Bible talks of those who read the Bible and then twist it to suit their own ideas (2 Pet. 3:16). While they do not literally have the scribe’s knife in their hands, they have one in their hearts.
Do you want to know His will for your life? Come to His word and “…hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matt. 5:6). Remember His promise, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13). Jesus said it this way, “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine” (John 7:17).
Our hearts must be so different than the heart of Jehoiakim. Paul speaks of that person who, with an open heart, comes to the Bible and reads about Jesus. As he looks at the image of Jesus, he is changed into that very same image by the Holy Spirit of God (2 Cor. 3:18). Do you want God to change you? Then open your Bible and honestly seek Him, but make sure you do not have a scribe’s pen in your hand!