"The Lord said..."

     

          I get a new quotation every morning from a man who just puts some worthy saying that someone said before. I have mentioned before that many of the quotations come from people I don't know, so therefore I probably am not going to be using them any time soon. There are some however, that I have read myself and would consider using a comment or two if the opportunity came up. Certain names like Jonathan Edwards and C. H. Spurgeon are known to many people and so their quotes have more emphasis than many of the unknown writers. Acts 22:10 says, “And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.'”

         The little phrase, “The Lord said...” appears about 275 times in that combination of words in the Bible, most of them being found in the Old Testament but about ten of them in the New Testament. Quoting someone real famous adds spiritual weight to the message. Other forms of the above phrase will reveal many other times in which God spoke to His people with a very special message. Now, there is something worth quoting to the whole world. The Apostle Paul was quoting what was said by God to Him as he went through the experience on the road to Damascus. The occasion was the conversion of the Apostle when his whole life was turned around. Paul used that event to give testimony to what had taken place in his life and why he was doing what he was doing. There is no one who should even attempt to argue with God, His methods and His actions with anyone. When you see the phrase, “The Lord said..” that should end any discussion about the importance of the statement and the validity of the statement. On some of the social media programs on the internet, we often see the statement, “If you agree, like and share.” That statement, like and share, is often applied to everything from peanut butter to political views. We can take the opportunity of “like and share” the Word of God and then go on to quote God especially in those instances where it simply states, “The LORD said.” On one could argue with Paul's personal experience on the Road to Damascus and we have at least two occasions in the Book of Acts where Paul gives his personal testimony as to what took place. When you put them all together, you get the more complete version of the account. You may quote Ronald Reagan, C. S. Lewis or Sesame Street but the most important quotes come from the Word of God itself. While we have the 275 times that we find the exact words we also can simply quote what God has said in each and every verse of Scripture. It is true that there are those direct quotes from God and then there are those times when we can say that “God said and then go on to quote John 3:16 or Romans 5:8 or First John 5:11-13. When it comes to social media, there are no times when I have “liked and shared” something just because it was there. When it comes to God's Word, I will take every opportunity I find to like and to share it with others not only on social media but also at the grocery store, the gas station, the neighborhood, the restaurant or wherever we might find and opportunity. Praise God today for the fact that He has given us His Word to share with others.