Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents

By Rod Dreher / Sentinel

Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn once noted that people often assume that their democratic government would never submit to totalitarianism---but Dreher says it's happening. Sounding the alarm about the insidious effects of identity politics, surveillance technology, psychological manipulation, and more, he equips contemporary Christian dissidents to see, judge, and act as they fight to resist the erosion of our freedoms. 304 pages, hardcover from Sentinel.

Design: Steve Webb | Photo: Inbetween Architects Unsplash

Thoughts

The Hebrew language had several different words that are often translated into English as "law". 

I'm not going to give you all those different Hebrew words here today, but I'm going to read a partial list some of their meanings, and I'd like to see if you can pick out which of these words are the word used here in Psalm 119. Here they are: statute or decree, command, precept, judgement, direction (as in "The directions to complete a project"). 

Which one do you think? It's actually the last one I read, and in the Hebrew, the word is Torah. Yes, it is correctly translated as "law" in every English Bible, but isn't it interesting that the second, perhaps more nuanced definition of Torah is direction. God's Law is very accurately described by some as an Owner's Manual for us. 

A few years ago, my church did a complete remodel of the sanctuary. It was over a year long project, and one of the things we did was upgrade the sound system, and being the tech guy at the church, it was my job to recommend new equipment. Well, once everything came in, I had to learn how to use it. Guess what the first thing was I looked for when I opened the boxes. Right. The Owner's Manual, written by the manufacturer. I wanted to be sure I get the best sound out of the new hardware, and I wanted to be sure I didn't break anything. I wanted to use the equipment as it was meant to be used. 

God created us, and He knows how we best operate, and how we can best reach our highest potential. And that is why His law was given to us. It was because of His great loving kindness. God didn't want us thrashing about trying to figure things out on our own. And Psalms chapter 119 is filled with praise to God for giving us directions for our life.

Thank you Lord, for your loving kindness, and for revealing yourself to us through your Word.

Today's Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today's episode: Ch. 119 NLV

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