Listen to the Word

I Kings 13:21b You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you.

I have struggled to understand this verse, this story through the years, every time I read it.  It seems so unfair of God to bring punishment to this man of God who was misled by another prophet.  The prophet convinced him that it was alright to retract his obedience to what God had commanded him to do.  After all, it was a prophet who told him it was OK.  Today, however, as I was once again reading this story and feeling that same frustration, I suddenly realized that the message of this incident to me is a reminder that God’s Word should always take precedence over any other person’s interpretation of its meaning to me.  If I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that God has spoken to me about something that I read in His Word, this is the message for me to heed.  Although I realize that there have been people who have misinterpreted the Word and turned it into something that was not biblically sound and that is a danger I must stay alert to, it is nevertheless imperative for me to listen to the Spirit of God as He speaks to me through the Word. If the message I receive from the word agrees with Scripture in general and if I have prayed over that message, I can rely on God to confirm it to me.  If I am in a strong and solid relationship with God, His Word will speak Truth to me and that is what I must heed.  Nothing else…