No Potties

Recently Ellie (who’s almost 10) and I were going through a set of question cards designed to encourage conversation. Her answer to one of the cards let to a conversation that both confused me and made me laugh. Let me share it with you:

Me (reading from the card): “What would be the worst place to visit?”

Ellie: “Hawaii!”

Me: “Hawaii?? Why would that be the worst place??”

Ellie: “Because they don’t have any potties.”

Me (totally confused): “What?”

Ellie: “They don’t have any potties. You have to use the community outhouse.”

Me: “Sweetie, Hawaii is part of the United States. They have potties there.”

Ellie: “The Schmidtkes said they didn’t. They also said that when it was really cold and snowy, like when there was a blizzard, they had to use a bucket because they couldn’t even get to the outhouse.”

Me: “Hawaii doesn’t have blizzards. Were they talking about Alaska or somewhere?”

Ellie: “I don’t know.”

Me: “Hawaii is one of the United States. They have the same technology we have. They have potties there.”

Ellie: “Oh.”

Even typing this conversation makes me laugh. I found it pretty amusing, and I still do.

What’s not nearly so amusing is when we get confused about what God has said. He said one thing, and we think He said something else.

God says, “I poured out all my wrath over your sins on Jesus when He hung on the cross.” Yet we think He still gets really angry at us when we blow it.

God says, “Don’t sin,” and we think what He actually meant was, “If you sin, you are no longer acceptable to me, and I won’t love you.”

God says, “I so loved the world that I sent my only Son.” We think, “Okay, so He loves the world, but He doesn’t really love me.” We forget that He also said He exults over us.

It didn’t really matter much that Ellie mistook Hawaii for Alaska. It does matter when we misunderstand God.

It matters that we understand what makes God’s heart glad, and what breaks it. It matters that we understand why He considers certain things sin. It matters deeply and profoundly that we understand Who He is, as well as how much He loves us.

How do we make sure we get it right? How do we keep from getting misled into thinking that Hawaii has blizzards?

We have to know the Bible. Inside and out. Cover to cover. Every bit.

Why? Because, as John R. W. Stott says, “The Bible is God preaching.” It’s His Word to us. It’s His love letter to us. It’s what He wants us to know and one of the primary means He uses to reveal Himself to us. Therefore, it should be our primary go-to reference when we want to know what He says.

It’s great to listen to those who claim to teach the word, but what matters is not what they say, but what the Bible says. It’s fine to read books, but what matters is not what the author says, but what the Bible says. Hopefully, the speaker or author will indeed be teaching the Bible, but you have to know your Bible to be sure.

Do you know your Bible? Do you know what God says to you through it?

The Secret Service is the division of our government charged with dealing with counterfeiters and counterfeit money. In order to carry out their jobs, they have to know the difference between a fake bill and a real one. To learn the difference, they study not the fake bills, but the real ones. They study genuine bills over and over and over, so that when they see a bill that’s counterfeit, they will recognize it because it differs from the real thing.

That’s how we should study the Bible—so deeply and so well that we will recognize anything that differs from it.

Do you want to know what God says? Study your Bible. It’s fine to read or listen to what others have to say about the Bible, but you need to study it for yourself too. If you’re not sure how to do it, there are many great resources online or in print that will help you.

That way, you’ll know truth, and you’ll recognize anything that differs from it.

You’ll know that there are, indeed, potties in Hawaii.

2 Timothy 2:15—Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (NIV)