Bible Verse of The Day – 6-15-20

1 John 5:21 (NKJV) 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

I’ve read this verse many, many times. We have even written devotionals with this verse. It’s a very short verse that says a lot.

This past week, however, it took on new depth for me as I heard it while listening to the Bible as I was preparing for my day.

I usually like to read the New King James translation. It is a solid translation that is free of the old poetic “thees, thous, doest and goest” type of words, making it very easy to read and understand.

I do occasionally use other translations while studying, however, for the sake of comparison and for revealing other possible meanings in the scriptures.

This was the case with the verse above.

As I listened, it was reading from the NLT (New Living Translation), since audio wasn’t available for the NKJV translation. And here is what it said:

1 John 5:21 (NLT) 21 Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.

If the NKJV translation didn’t make it clear enough, this translation certainly does!

What I really like about this is that it defines what an idol is in the lives of a believer; anything that might take God’s place in our hearts.

Straight forward, plain and simple, super easy to understand.

Many times, a simple change of words that brings more clarity can increase our understanding, leading to us actually implementing it in our lives.

It can mean the difference between us growing or not growing. This isn’t so much because we didn’t understand the other translation, but more because the alternate translation makes it so clear than we can’t deny it.

Thus, we are more easily convicted.

So, just as John encouraged believers of that time to keep themselves from idols, we also want to encourage you to do the same; keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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