Study What’s Real

Study What’s Real to Detect What Isn’t True

Study What’s Real to Detect What Isn’t True
By Rick Warren

 “Since only your rules can give me wisdom and understanding, no wonder I hate every false teaching” (Psalm 119:104 TLB).

The only way to really know what’s fake is to know what’s real. The U.S. Treasury Department trains its agents to spot counterfeit bills by giving them authentic ones to examine, touch, and recognize. There are many ways to counterfeit, but there’s only one version of the real bills.

So, a good educational principle is to study what’s real in order to detect what isn’t true. That’s why it is so important to study God’s Word. By knowing biblical truth, we’re able to spot false teaching.

Many people today fall for foolish ideas because they don’t know the truth. And because they don’t know what is authentic, they can’t spot a lie.

The psalmist wrote, “Since only your rules can give me wisdom and understanding, no wonder I hate every false teaching” (Psalm 119:104 TLB).

So how can we find more time to spend in God’s Word?

Spend less time in front of screens. Spend less time on our devices. Spend less time cheering on our favorite sports team.

By the time a typical American student graduates from high school today, he or she will have spent more than 30,000 hours in front of a screen (including video games, tablets, laptops, and televisions).

Any guess how long it takes to read the entire Bible — all 66 books? It’ll take just 80 hours.

So, we do have the time. The question is, “How will we use our time?” God gave us his Word to give us the wisdom we need to live a fulfilling and productive life.