One foggy night a captain saw a faint light directly in the path of his ship. Accordingly, he ordered his signalman to send out the message: “Alter your course ten degrees south.” The signalman did so, but the return reply was: “Alter your course ten degrees north.”

With his pride hurt, the captain ordered that a second message be sent out: “Alter your course ten degrees south! I am a captain!” But the light still didn’t move, and the reply that came back was: “Alter your course ten degrees north! I am Seaman Third Class Jones.”

At this point, the captain was enraged and ordered that a third message be sent: “ALTER YOUR COURSE TEN DEGREES SOUTH! I AM IN A BATTLESHIP!” The captain had to concede defeat, though, when the return message said: “ALTER YOUR COURSE TEN DEGREES NORTH! I AM IN A LIGHTHOUSE!”

You disagreeing with God’s written word, the Bible, is about like that captain expecting that lighthouse to move for him. In the end, either in this life or in eternity, that’s not an argument that you are going to win. God’s word has stood, is standing right now, and will continue to stand. Therefore, you disagreeing with it won’t change it, you getting mad at it won’t alter it, and you resisting it will only hurt you.

Jeremiah 5:14 is a very interesting verse. It reads:

Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.” (N.K.J.V.)

Notice here that God compares His words to fire. When we think of fire, we think of its many advantageous uses. For example, fire can be used for illumination, cooking, warmth, purifying, forging, etc. Interestingly, however, God wasn’t telling Jeremiah that His words were going to be a blessing to the people of Judah. Much to the contrary, those words were going to destroy the people. According to Jeremiah’s imagery, the words would be the fire and the people would be the wood.

Here in America, we have reached a state as low as Judah’s. We argue with God’s word. We disagree with it. We doubt it. We scoff at it. We explain it away. We ridicule it. We ignore it. That’s why we, as a nation, stand as dried wood that is ready to be consumed by the fire of God’s judgment.

Perhaps you are like me in that you wish that you could change this about America. Obviously, we can’t because we aren’t the ones who get to set national policy, but what we can do is remain true to God’s word as individuals and take our stand with it in our own lives. Just as Jeremiah stood in stark contrast to the national trend of Judah, you and I can stand in such contrast to the national trend of America. And the great news is that, as we do this, God’s word will become a source of blessing rather than condemnation to us as we get to experience that word as a source of illumination, warmth, and purification. That, of course, is infinitely better than merely living our lives as dried out wood that is awaiting the fire of God’s judgment.