With the NCAA Tournament starting this week, it’s time to fill out our brackets. (Join Our Contest Here)
When dissecting the 68 teams and predicting each matchup, most of us quickly realize how little we know about many of them.
East coast fans don't typically stay up late to watch west coast teams and many of us prefer to exclusively follow our favorite conference or team. It’s also unlikely to be familiar with a lot of the players across the country when we haven't even seen many of the mid-major schools compete.
Since we lack in our college basketball knowledge, we rely heavily on the “experts” who give advice and analysis. They tell us how potent a team’s defense is...how strong a small school’s 3-point shooting can be….how certain players have the ability to carry their team...and how a school is getting hot at just the right time.
There is no question that Jay Bilas, Seth Greenberg, and Jay Williams watched many more games than we did this year. Afterall, their job is to study game film and know the stats.
However, as we fill out our brackets, we need to do our own research to make sure what they say is accurate. We may hear one expert say a team has great rebounders while another expert says the same team struggles on the boards.
So what is the truth? We can rely on experts to share what they’ve learned, but we must take some ownership ourselves and test what they say.
Similarly, when we are looking for truth, answers, and a deeper understanding of who God is and what His Word says, we listen to faith experts, pastors, teachers, and writers to give us insight.
These people have studied scripture, have theological training, and can articulate what they’ve learned. There is great value in seeking information from those who are wise in their area of expertise.
But at the same time, we must also study scripture and personally spend time with the Lord to seek His truth. Instead of taking the message of "experts" at face value, it's crucial to test what they're saying by diving into God's Word and confirming it's Biblically based.
Just like college basketball analysts sometimes misspeak or position their opinion as fact, there are spiritual leaders who get off track as well.
1 John 4:1-3 (NLT) warns us by saying, “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.
"This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God…”
Today as we fill out our brackets and listen to tips and suggestions from college basketball analysts, let’s test what they’re saying so we know it’s true.
Likewise, let’s make sure what we’re learning from respectable teachers and pastors line up with the message of Jesus and the truth of the Bible.
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can unpack that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I know Your Word is true and that You’ve called many to share and teach Your message. I pray I’d test the truth of what they're speaking so that I can be sure it's based on Your Spirit. Help me to know the difference and to know Your truth deeply. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
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