Read: Psalm 143:8-10; 1 John 4:1-6

“Dad, what are those ropes on the side of the road?” asked six-year-old Arthur as they drove down the highway.

“Those are called guardrails,” Dad replied. “Sometimes guardrails are made of wide metal bands, and sometimes they’re heavy wire ropes. They’re to make sure people driving on the highway stay on the road.”

“Why would they want to leave the road?” Arthur asked.

“They wouldn’t want to leave the road,” said Arthur’s brother, Keaton. “But sometimes people have accidents. Like in winter. If the road gets slippery, cars might run into each other and go off the road.”

Dad nodded. “Or drivers may not be paying attention to what they’re doing, or they may get sleepy and swerve off the highway. Then those guardrails would catch their cars before they could roll down the hill at the side of the road. Without the guardrails, the cars would suffer much more serious damage—and the people inside them could have more serious injuries.”

“Wow!” Arthur said. “Then I’m glad they’re there. They’re really important!”

“Yes, they are.” Dad smiled. “You know, God’s Word can be like a guardrail. Just like guardrails protect us on the highway, reading the Bible can protect us from false teaching.”

“What do you mean?” asked Keaton.

“The Bible shows us what comes from God and what doesn’t,” said Dad. “It shows us who God is, and if we know Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit to help us understand His Word and use it to test ideas we come into contact with. The Bible helps us recognize when something is false teaching and not the truth.”

“Like what that person was saying on the radio earlier?” asked Keaton. “The one who said all religions lead to God?”

“Right. That’s not what the Bible says—it says the only way to have eternal life with God is by trusting Jesus to save us from sin.” Dad sighed. “We hear so much in the world that’s untrue, which is why we need to be careful not to veer off the right path in our spiritual lives. As we read the Bible and learn about it at church, we can trust the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom about what it says so we can guard our hearts against falsehoods.”

–Robert Truesdale

How about you? Do you read the Bible regularly? Do you check it when you’re not sure about something you’ve heard? As you learn what God says in His Word, the Holy Spirit will use it to give you wisdom and help you recognize Satan’s lies. So keep reading the Bible and studying it, and trust God to use it to help you stay on the right road in your walk with Jesus.

Today's Key Verse: Do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. 1 John 4:1 (NLT)

Today's Key Thought: God’s Word contains truth