We live in a time that has lost connection with the primary source of power and guidance in life—the Scriptures. Today, emotions, public opinion, and cable news arguments seem to guide many of our lives instead.

As a follower of the Lord Jesus, it’s helpful for me to remember that Jesus’ life was one guided by the Scriptures. He taught His disciples that their lives would be most fruitful when they followed the path laid out by God.

Consider these words of Jesus:

• “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. . . Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him” (John 14:15-17,21 NIV).

• “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (John 17:15-18 NIV).

In Jesus’ prayer to His Father, Jesus says that the truth of God “sanctifies us.” It works to set us apart as His followers living a different kind of life in a broken world.

Matthew 4:1-11 recalls the story of Jesus being tempted four times. Each time, He quotes Scriptureas the source of truth in His battle with the lies of Satan (vs 4,7,10).

Do we consider the Scriptures with as much authoritative power as Jesus did?
What other sources of guidance tend to rival God’s Word as you make decisions or form opinions?