In many places in scripture we read the phrase, “Thus says the Lord”, or for those of us who grew up with the King James Version of the Bible, “Thus Saith the Lord”. In fact, it occurs over 400 times (Exodus 4:22-23, Jeremiah 2:2, Ezekiel 37:5, to name a few) throughout Scripture. God spoke His Word through the prophets and apostles so we would always know His truth and His commands.
The question is, what will we do with what the Lord said? It not only defines how we will live today, but determines our eternal destiny. We cannot have everlasting life unless we love God, and if we love Him, we will obey His Word (John 14:15). For disciples of Jesus, “Thus says the Lord” becomes our guardrails and keeps our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).
In everything we do, think, and say, our first check should be with what God has said. Are the words on the tip of our tongue going to build someone up or tear them down? Thus says the Lord, “No foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29). “Thus says the Lord” directs our speech.
How about our thoughts? Jesus tells us if we despise someone, it is the same in God’s eyes as murdering them (Matthew 5:21-22). God creates every person in His image, and they are therefore deserving of our love (Mark 12:30-31). When we refuse to love them, we are rejecting the fact they are created in God’s image, which not only is an affront against God but also destroys the value of the person. In our mind, we murder them in the worst possible way by seeing them as not created in the image of the only One who can save them.
The same goes for adultery. When we lust after someone who is not our spouse, God sees it as breaking the commitment we made to our husband or wife (Matthew 5:28). We are always to delight in the person God has given to us in marriage, and no one else. Single people are not off the hook. Your singleness is not a license to lust. It is all against the sacred design of marriage defined and created by God.
Thus says the Lord, “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh,” (Genesis 1:24) and “Haven’t you read… that He who created them in the beginning made them male and female… For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate” (Matthew 19:4-6). God takes marriage, adultery, and sexuality seriously. It’s all there in what He has said.
These are just a few examples of how you can check yourself against the truth of, “Thus says the Lord.” Let us always live according to His Word, never turning from the right or the left (Joshua 1:7), and never falling in love with the things of this world (1 John 2:15-16). One more “Thus says the Lord” for you. Jesus told us to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). Is that your mission in life? This is the word of the eternal God, the Creator, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you love Him, you will obey everything He says (John 14:15).