A Far More Serious Consequence

The story is told of a young married lady who once was fixing a fancy ham dinner for her husband. As she was about to place the ham into the oven, she took a knife and cut off the end of the ham. Her husband asked, “Why did you cut the end off of the ham?” She replied, “I don’t know; that’s the way mamma always did it.”

Later, at the family reunion the young couple asked mother why she always cut off the end of the ham. She answered, “That’s the way mamma always did it.” They went to grandmother and asked her why she cut off the end of her hams. She likewise replied, “That’s the way my mamma always did it.”

They then found great-grandmother who was still living at the time, and asked her why she always cut the ham’s end off, and she said, “I cut the end of the ham off because my pan was too small!”

Similarly, in the religious world, many follow the traditions and doctrines of men without question or investigation. Unfortunately, it is a far more serious consequence than cutting off the end of hams (2 John 1:6-11).

Paul warns us in Colossians 2:8:

“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.“

Dear reader, we need to make certain that any religious teaching we are receiving, coincides with the teaching of the inspired word of God (Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 3:16; cf. 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets