Deuteronomy 4:2
You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord (YHWH) your God which I command you.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
That is a command, an absolute instruction repeated many times and in many ways throughout the Scriptures. And although we are living in a time today when so many new versions of the Bible are being published we have to keep in mind the fact that God’s Word is indeed already settled, firmly fixed, in heaven {Ps.119:89} where He and the original copy abide!

We cannot overstate the importance of the Word in our lives, words that give us wisdom, knowledge and understanding. {Pr.2:6} Words that add peace to our lives! {Pr.3:2} Being in His Word all the time makes us truly disciples of Christ and will set us free protecting us from the lies of Satan, the father of lies! {Jn.8:31-32}

And speaking of understanding, so many new ‘easy to understand’ translations of the Bible (with their own copyright to protect their profits) are created to make God’s Word easier to understand, or so they say. However, they often actually wind up hiding what the Lord really wants us to come to understand.

Which puts me in mind of the account of the Lord teaching some truly wonderful truths, speaking parables to a multitude of followers and His disciples. This included the parable of the sower and the seed—so very, very important. His disciples questioned Him asking why He spoke to the crowd in parables to which He responded: “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but to them it has not been granted … Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” {Mat.13:13}

There is for sure a difference between a ‘follower’ and a ‘disciple’ and it is one that is critical to what we are looking at here. No ‘up-to-date, new and improved, modern version of the Bible’ is going to make the words of God and the heart of God understandable to a follower, while it is the gift of God to a disciple! Jesus said to the multitudes who were going along with Him, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” {Lk’14:26-27)

In many, if not most very large “successful” churches today people are far more likely to hear over and over that God wants you rich and to have whatever you desire, to get all rather than to give all. He has promised to supply all of our needs, {Php.4:19} not all of our wants. Please remember that the Lord’s great desire is that none should perish but come to repentance and eternal life. {2Pt.3:9}

Abiding in His Word and prayerfully keeping those words—and yes, dying to self—will change a person from being a follower into being a true disciple. One who is a temple of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, one who will not require a different version of the Bible to fully understand the love of God and know how to return that love and live the life we were destined for! It is the Spirit of truth who dwells within us who opens the doors of understanding into our hearts!

You and I need to talk and walk that new life every day because God’s Word—well, let Him say it to us who are living and filled with His Word:

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

SURRENDER ALL AND RECEIVE ALL