"Partly Right Information" or "The Geranium-eating Deer"

Earlier this year I spent some time looking up flowering plants that deer supposedly don’t like to eat.   One of those that came to the top of the list was the geranium. So, based on the information I received via the Internet (which we all assume is 100% reliable!), I planted four nice size geraniums in a section of our front yard.  And for a number of weeks, everything was fine. I thought the information I had received was correct. The deer weren’t eating my geraniums.  Until one morning…I’m sure you know where I’m going. 

Yes, one morning I noticed that one of the geranium plants was missing its flowers. When I got closer I saw that, although the plant itself was still in tact, the flowers were gone. Just the leaves and flower stems were left.  A very neat looking job!  The next week, one of the plants was missing altogether—until I found it sitting just a couple of feet away again, ripped out of the ground with the plant in tact and just the flowers missing.  I replanted the plant.  In subsequent weeks, every so often it has been obvious the deer have been by the night before, for a flower or two is gone.  What I have come to learn is that the deer don’t eat the geranium plant, but they do like the flowers. And, most of the time they are very good at just picking off the flower and leaving the rest of the plant in tact.   I guess the information I received was only partly right! 

This could be at my house, but it is not!

None of us likes receiving information that is only partly right. After all, partly right information can lead us astray.  It makes us think we are on the right course or doing the right thing, yet causing us to end up with unforeseen consequences. Partly right information can make us feel safe and secure when we really should be more on our guard or take better steps to prepare ourselves for what might come. 

I’m reminded that the Bible, as God’s Word to us, is not just partly right, but completely right and true.  The Bible gives us the full information we need to know God, to live the way we ought to live, and to experience the blessing of God upon our lives.  The Bible doesn’t give to us just partial information or just a piece of the story, but all we need to know regarding forgiveness, salvation, and the grace of God at work within our lives. 

Jesus said “As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice...they are like a man building a house…(who) laid the foundation on a rock.”—i.e. with a foundation that was able to withstand the storms of life. (Luke 6:47-48, NIV) The Psalmist wrote these words:  “All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.” (Psalm 119:160 - NIV)

Let me encourage you to read God’s Word, to study God’s Word, and to live according to God’s Word, the Bible.  God’s Word is completely right and true. Thus, it is upon the His Word that you and I can build our lives without the fear that one day we will wake up and find that we were given only partial information.  He will never give to us information that is only partly right!

Have a great day!

Pastor Tim Harris