helicoptering the Bible

I've been using a Bible reading plan from YouVersion for the last week or so, reading through the gospels in 30 days.  It's been great.

Today I came across this story from Jesus' temptation in Matthew 4:1-7 (TNIV):

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: 

"'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands,  so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" 

Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

And it struck me:

At Satan's first attempt to cause Jesus to fall, Jesus simply used Scripture to ward off the attack.

But on his second attempt, Satan used Scripture itself to tempt Jesus.

That's a sobering thought: even what is holy and good can be used for evil intent.

And how often do we see this?  How often do we encounter some sort of pundit, author, songwriter, or other self-appointed mouthpiece for God do this same thing?

Or how about this:

How often do we ourselves use Scripture to justify our position, our reaction, or even our sin?

Here's what was so clever about the Enemy's ploy:

What he was saying - what he was quoting - was true.  It was written.

But: it was only half of the whole truth.

And so often, we love to do the same thing.  As a professor of mine once said: we "helicopter" down on a verse, use it to justify our position, and then "helicopter" off it it, back into our way of living.

Let us be people who who don't helicopter.  That's what the Enemy does.  Instead, let us be people who make it their joyful duty to journey through the entirety of Scripture, seek the entire counsel of God, and make decision and declarations that represent the fullness of the wisdom that has been revealed to us.