I work part-time in the Housekeeping department at a local hospital. There's one room I am in on a regular basis that has two scales in it - a digital scale, and an old-school "stand on it and move the needle" type scale. I always get on both scales when I'm in that room, and the same thing happens every time. The digital scale will tell me to the ounce what I weigh. The old scale just gives me a rough idea, and my weight always measures two or three pounds lighter on it than on the digital scale.
I really like the old scale. Why? Because it tells me what I WANT to hear.
My preference for the scale that's "nicer" to me over the one that tells me the truth got me to thinking of what the apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:3-4:
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."
We are sadly living in a time when it seems people are LOOKING for reasons to be offended. It also seems that these days, the only thing you have to do to offend someone is speak the truth. We hear a lot of talk about the signs of these being "the last days" spoken of in Matthew 24. We hear about "wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes." All of these are happening, and they are indeed signs that things are shaking in the heavens. But there is another sign of the last days mentioned in Matthew 24:10 that we are also seeing fulfilled before our eyes:
"And then many will be OFFENDED, will betray one another, and will hate one another." (Emphasis mine)
Allow me to be blunt: as men and women of God, we need to get the chips off of our shoulders stop being so easily offended. We need men and women of God who will stand up and declare the whole counsel of God with a powerful anointing of the Holy Ghost. We need ministers who will call sin SIN, and who will preach repentance from sin. We need to be told what the word of God says about holiness and obedience. We need to hear, as Paul mentioned in Romans 11:22, about both the KINDNESS and the SEVERITY of God.
Simply put, we need the truth.
Yes, sometimes the truth hurts. But as Jesus told us in John 8, the truth will also set us free! The gospel is indeed "good news" - and that good news is that Jesus paid the ultimate debt for sin, and those who come to him in repentance and faith can find forgiveness and deliverance from sin. It can be challenging to be confronted with things in our lives that aren't what they should be, but it's also joyfully liberating to know that the power of the cross of Christ can bring freedom and life to us. So my challenge to us all is to embrace sound doctrine. Be ready to hear the truth, regardless of how difficult it may be to hear at the time. Let us put away our offenses and receive the word of God with faith and joy. It is indeed worth it.
(And for the record, I may not like the digital scale, but it's the one I believe. Because it tells me the truth.)
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