Almost Right is Always Wrong (Part Two)
“Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth, for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan. And there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.” Judges 12:6 KJV
In this amazing story, two tribes that should have been united were instead at war. Ephraim and Manasseh were cousins. They looked alike, spoke the same language, and shared the same family line. They should have been fighting for one another, but instead they fought against each other in a civil war.
When Ephraim set up a roadblock, they had to find a way to tell friend from foe. Since the people looked so similar, they created a word test. If someone could say “Shibboleth” with the letter h, they lived. If they said “Sibboleth” without the h, they died. It was such a small difference, but that single sound exposed who belonged and who did not. Over four thousand people were killed, not because they looked different, but because they could not speak the word correctly.
That story carries a powerful lesson for you.
Almost right is always wrong.
It may not seem like a big difference to mispronounce one letter, but it was the difference between life and death. In the same way, you cannot twist God’s Word to make it fit your preference. You cannot hold on to half-truths and call them the truth. Almost right will always lead to confusion.
This is why you must stay anchored in what Scripture truly says. There are many voices that use the Bible but change it ever so slightly. They may quote verses out of context or reshape them to fit cultural ideas. It sounds close, but it is not the same. And when you build your life on “almost right,” you miss the power of God’s actual truth.
God is calling you to lean fully into His Word. Read it carefully. Believe it fully. Live it completely. Do not settle for a version of truth that has been softened or altered. You need the Word as it is, not as the world wants it to be.
Prayer: Lord, help me to love Your Word for what it really says. Keep me from twisting or softening the truth. I do not want to live in the land of almost. Give me wisdom to hear Your voice clearly and courage to obey it completely. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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