Imagine a time in which you were surrounded by danger. Forces were against you that literally threatened your very life. Someone comes up to you at the scariest moment and seeks to encourage you. Instead of providing personal counsel, this individual actually quotes a Bible verse to you. Recited from a beloved psalm, this verse reminds you that God will watch over you.

Does that sound comforting to you? It should until you realize who this mysterious Bible-quoter is. The psalm-toting individual is none other than the devil himself. This scenario isn’t imagination but history. Jesus was being tempted, and Satan tried to get him to bite on that temptation by taking a Bible verse out of context to fit his agenda. 

The scary thing is that many of us are guilty of the same tactic. It’s time to go the second mile in prioritizing biblical context.

First-mile believers find a verse out of context to fit their agenda. Second-mile disciples study the Bible in context to align with God’s agenda.

When it comes to reading Scripture, context is key. Too much of our current biblical study focuses on isolated verses and neglects the context of which the verses were originally written.