“All Scripture … is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2
Tim. 3:16).

The uses of the Scriptures are
given in this verse. First and foremost they are profitable for teaching, that
is, the revelation of God’s mind for His people.

Second, they are profitable for
reproof or conviction. They are the divine standard, and are “[living] and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:12). Therefore, the
character of our conduct or actions is at once discerned by their application.

Third, they are profitable for
correction. They not only convict of sin and failure, but they also point out
the right path for God’s people.

Fourth, they are profitable for
instruction in righteousness. They contain precepts and exhortations applicable
to all the relationships and responsibilities—whether toward God or one
another—in which the believer can possibly be found.

The Word of God is thus the only,
and the all-sufficient, source of instruction for His people.

"And Pharaoh said unto
Joseph … Take your father and your households, and come unto me; and I will
give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land
… Regard not your stuff [or belongings], for the good of all the land
of Egypt is yours" (Gen. 45:17-20).

How much regarding of
"stuff" there is among the people of God today! How much anxiety and
unnecessary concern is manifested among the heirs of glory over the possession
or accumulation of a little of this world’s goods! At best it is but
"stuff." It is not unlawful to possess it; it is the regarding
of it that works the mischief and produces the leanness of soul so common among
the saints of God in this day of unparalleled material prosperity. Pharaoh, to
give weight to his exhortation as to their "stuff," adds, "For
the good of all the land of Egypt is yours." What an offset to anxiety!

John Newton once called to see a
Christian lady who had just lost her comfortable home and all its furnishings
by fire. "I have called to congratulate you, madam," he said, as he
took her hand. She was about to resent what she considered his utter lack of
sympathy and consideration when he added, "Because you have so much
treasure in heaven that fire can never touch." Suppose, dear child of God,
you were to suffer the loss of all your earthly possessions, whether inherited,
or acquired by economy and thrift; what would it matter? Is not heaven and all
its treasures yours? Even Job, when stripped of everything, could say,
"The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21)! And shall the Christian in
this day say less?

"Let not your eye regret
your stuff" the JND translation reads. Let the man of the world blow out
his brains or lose his mind when earthly riches make themselves wings and fly
away. It was all the poor man had. But you have treasure in heaven; your
riches are, or should be, invested in a place of absolute security. Let the
banks fail by the wholesale; let panic and financial ruin come when it will. We
believers, like the Hebrew Christians of old, may take "joyfully the
spoiling of [our] goods, knowing in [ourselves] that [we] have in heaven a
better and an enduring substance" (Heb. 10:34).

Hallelujah! We have a song ready
to sing in our darkest hour of temporal need. God our Father had one of His
dear children compose it for His family long ago:"Although the fig tree
shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive
shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from
the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:Yet I will [not trust,
merely, but] rejoice in the LORD, I
will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD
God is my strength, and He will make me to walk upon my high places" (Hab.
3:17-19).

(From A Fruitful Bough,
published by Loizeaux Brothers.)