Our children sing this song often in Bible class and also in Vacation Bible School. This song gives us a lot to think about in all the verses. They sing, be careful little eyes what you see; be careful little mouth what you say; be careful little hands what you do; be careful little feet where you go.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we took all of those to heart? We might not be watching, saying, hearing, doing, or going like we do now.

We could talk about any or all of these, but the one I want to focus on is what we hear. The reason for choosing hearing is because I believe we have become accustomed to hearing and believing without proving that what we hear is true. This is true in physical things, but it is also true in spiritual things.

Let’s look at some instances where we have taken scriptural messages we have heard and accepted them without proof that they are true.

We don’t have to read far in the scripture to find something that has been told as fact for generations, but it is not found in the scripture. In Genesis 2:9, scripture says, “And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” In Genesis 3:6 it says, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” There is no mention of Eve eating an apple.

Some may think that this is insignificant that people say that Eve ate an apple, but it is applying something to the scripture that simply is not there. When we teach something as fact when it isn’t, we are teaching an untruth.

In Exodus 12, Moses began preparing the Children of Israel for their deliverance from Egypt. In verse 12, God said, “For I will pass through the land of Egypt that, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.” Nowhere in the scripture does it say that a death angel would pass over the people. God says that He will pass over and through this miracle He will show His power over the Egyptian gods. Once again, we see the teaching of an untruth.

In Matthew 2, the apostle gives us an account of the birth of Jesus. One of the events surrounding His birth is the visit of the wise men who brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

You can read through the account in Matthew, and there is no mention of there being three wise men. The assumption is that there were three because there were three gifts. That is, however, just an assumption. Did you know that the wise men did not visit Jesus in His infancy? According to Matthew 2:11, “And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.” The story continues with God warning the wise men not to return to King Herod, but to go home another way. Verse 13 says, “Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him’.” Verse 16 says, “Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.”

 How old Jesus was when the wise men visited or how many there were is not a salvation issue for us, but proclaiming that there were three and that they visit Him with the shepherd is changing the text of the scripture.

By the way, there is no mention of Mary riding a donkey; there is no mention of an innkeeper, and there are no animals in either account of the birth of Jesus. A study of the Jewish calendar will also show that December is not the date of Jesus’ birth.

None of these examples show a determination to teach a false doctrine. Peter warns about false teachers in II Peter 2:1. He said, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” So we know there are those people in our midst that will try to deliberately mislead us. Let me give you such an example.

There was a preacher of a particular church in the mid-west that wanted to prove baptism is not essential to salvation. The passage he quoted was from I Peter 3:21. He said the Bible clearly says, “Baptism doth also now save us not.” He did not give the scripture reference.

Let’s look at what the scripture actually says: “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him” (KJV).

This man wanted to prove a point, so he omitted the punctuation to do so. Peter would label this man as a false teacher. He taught a gospel not proclaimed in the New Testament. The apostle Paul warned about the severity of such in Galatians 1:6-8. He said, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” In the following verse he repeats this for emphasis.

Paul’s question following these verses is, “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).

Paul makes it very clear that teaching the truth makes us servants of Christ. Remember the basics in Bible study. Always read the context of the passage in order to understand what the Holy Spirit through the writer is trying to say.

Sandra Oliver