What inspires you?

“I know the Bible is inspired because it inspires me.” ~ Dwight L. Moody

In Greek mythology the Muses were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (‘Memory’) and they were typically associated with various charming powers of artistic expression. They were said to be the inspiration for poetry, music, history, tragedy, dance and comedy. According to Wikipedia; “They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths.”

Many ancient writers cited the Muses as the inspiration for their work including Homer when he wrote “The Odyssey” Virgil when he penned “Aeneid” as well as Dante’s “Inferno” and Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” Often these writers and poets would invoke them at the start of their prose and tried to present them as the “true speaker” and that they were simply a tool used as the mouthpiece. In our current vernacular we would say that these authors were inspired by the Muse to write or create. In our banal society we typically see movies, books, music and television programs as “inspired by real life events” or “based on a true story.” But sadly much of the “arts” today are lacking inspiration and just are trivial nonsense with no lasting value.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines inspire as; to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration; to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence on; to spur on; impel, motivate. What typically inspires, influences, impels or has an exalting influence on us and society? Sadly it seems that all of the print, audio and video media focus on are things like wealth, materialism, power, control, vanity, fierce independence, my rights or what I think I deserve. This is not true in all cases but the truth is all of these sources are pushing an agenda and trying to convince you and I to pursue and realize our Muse, whatever that maybe.

Within Biblical Christianity the word “inspiration” has a much more significant meaning. In the book “Dictionary of Theological Terms” by Alain Cairns inspiration is defined as; “…the work of God, by His Holy Spirit, communicating His word to the writers of the Bible and enabling them to write that word without error, addition, or deletion. Thus, though fallible human penmen were employed, the Holy Spirit ensured the production of infallible writings, true in all respects, both as to their ideas and their words.” Chuck Missler states; “The great discovery is that the Bible is a message system: it’s not simply 66 books penned by 40 authors over thousands of years, the Bible is an integrated whole which bears evidence of supernatural engineering in every detail!” God’s Word, the Bible in simple terms has one central theme; God revealing Himself to man and how we can be reconciled to Him.

When I posted the D.L. Moody quote above on my social networking page status update I was reminded by some very good friends of some essential truths; first that we are inspired not by the words of men but the Word of God. It inspires us and ultimately changes us. As the dictionary definition describes; we are guided by the supernatural and divine God, and when we accept the Jesus Christ of the Bible we should be changed. That change enlivens what was once dead in it’s trespasses and sin, and God’s Word compels and motivates us to live our lives under His influence.

Another friend also mentioned a key verse found in II Timothy 3:16; “All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” and if we claim to be Bible believing Christians this must be true in our lives. Every word is inspired and should not be ignored. Timothy goes on to mention in verse 17 of the same chapter that because it is inspired we are made competent and equipped for every good work.

Unlike Greek mythology we did not believe “cunningly devised fables”. The Apostle Peter tells us in II Peter 1:16; “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” Peter was giving an eye witness account of the person and work of Christ and he spent his entire life and being sharing the Gospel message to anyone who would listen.

I personally know the Bible is true because it inspires me. It inspired me to change the course of my life, and changed and continues to change the way I act, think, desire and interact with others. But thankfully God isn’t finished with me yet, and I am truly thankful that He inspired 66 men to pen His Word, and His Word continues to inspire even today. What is your inspiration?

“So come lose our life for a carpenter's son
For a man who had died for a dream
And you'll feel the faith His first followers had
And you'll feel the weight of the beam
So surrender the hunger to say you must know
Have the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes
And blinds those who say they can see

We in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
And we in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
And so we follow God's own fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable
Come be a fool as well.”