Between Two Creeks

Water is water? 

Psalms 1

1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Most people have their own set of interests and concerns. Things that fall outside those areas are either ignored, skipped or relegated to occasional attention. Such is life and we only have so many hours in the day.  We don't need to understand how water is bottled before drinking it.  Many self-professing Christians are the same way regarding the Scriptures. Many see the various books that claim the title "Bible" and only see differences in wording and phrases. Occasionally a friend might suggest they need to stop drinking the water they have and drink from another bottle. Some of those will shrug and not see the need or care to be bothered with this. Oh well, water is water, right? Some will want to know why.  Of those, fewer still will bother look into the matter.

Between two creeks

In the days of the kings, there was a prophet named Elijah.  The children of Israel had again strayed into idol worship, yet they still claimed the title of having the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob but some still feared Him. Elijah confronted the people and asked them in I Kings 18:21, "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word."

When I was young I often walked the creeks hunting for squirrels.  There was one creek in particular however where I spent most of my hunts. Many times I would enjoy just being out there, listening to the water flow down the creek and seeing the wheat fields on either side. There is something very soothing to seeing a field of green wheat blowing in the winter breeze that is like watching the waves on a lake. I came to know the types of trees and plants that grew along the creek. I knew the bends in the creek and where the big trees were that I had seen raccoons going into.

Let's imagine for a moment you were with a group of people in an area with two creeks, one to your right, the other a little ways off to your left. The one on your right just happens to be the one you drink from and always have, never bothering to explore the other. You also know others who drink from the creek on your left and some of them have never bothered to drink from your creek.  Regardless, few give it more than a passing thought when someone suggests there is a difference in the water. A few however want to know more to see if there is something to this idea of the water being different.  

A Walk upstream

One day you decide you want to know more about the other creek as well as the one you are most familiar with.  So you take the suggestion of some to walk upstream and explore.  Both creeks seem to be coming from the same general direction. The further you go, you notice the trees and plants along the bank of each creek are different. The clarity of the water seems different as well, or maybe you just never paid much attention before. A little further and the creeks both seem to get narrower and closer together.  At some point you notice what appears to be something foul in the creek on the left, but you leave it be for now. You have traveled quite a ways already.  You never noticed much of a difference in the creek in the left before that might suggest the water might be fouled. Finally you reach the headwaters where the creeks originate from, high up in a mountain.  The one creek on the right is flowing from a solid rock, the other from what appears to be a hole in the ground under your feet. Then you notice what appear to be footprints coming from the creek on the right, headed in the direction of the creek on the left. You can't really tell who made them or when they were made, but they are obviously made by someone. It seems as though someone was at your creek and started the other creek by digging the hole.

Coming back down the mountain

On your way back, you stop where the creek that had something foul in it.  It isn't just one thing, but multiple dead animals and runoff from factories are flowing into that creek. You found nothing like that in the creek you have been drinking from. When you get back to the others you were with, they are busy with their own interests. Nobody wants to hear about the journey you just had, let alone what you found.  One thing is for certain - you don't want to drink from that other creek.  The one you have been drinking from all this time was the best.

Such as it was with my own journey, following the trail from the King James Bible and the other books claiming to be the Bible, back through time.  I wanted to follow this trail for myself, not just take someones word for it.  For a glimpse of what I discovered, see these notes I made a while back - The King James Bible Stands Alone.  I make no claim to being a Bible scholar.  Just a whosoever, that delights in the Law of the Lord.