Post by Obasoto Obafemi (@Obasoto)

The Key Devotional

Saturday | July 11| 2026

POWER OF CONTEXT

Matthew 16:5-8,11 KJV
[5] And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. [6] Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. [7] And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. [8] Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? [11] How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

Words are a very important tool for making life easy and smooth. Since it is a terrible thing to be alone as God stated after the creation of man, words are a vital tool of bringing people together for mutual living and understanding of one another. It helps people to relate and fraternize in order to have a lively community and good bonding among people. As good as words are in making and bringing peaceful coexistence among men, it can as well become a tool to divide and create enemies among people when it is misunderstood. The reality is that words can be misunderstood when the intention of the one speaking is not caught in their statement. Since there can be ambiguity in words, it can lead to terrible breakdown of law and order. The story in the text is a typical example where the intention of Jesus was different from the understanding of the disciples. Just because He used food as a means of describing the errors of the Pharisees, the disciples concluded that He wanted them to carry food on their journey. This would have affected their spiritual lives if Jesus had not explained the intention to them. He was talking about the need to avoid the beliefs of the Pharisees in order to preserve their perfect followership of God.
Beloved, you must be very conscious of context in every instruction, especially the Bible. Many heresies we hear from people today is a function of reading the Bible out of context. There has been terrible justification of sin and unholy living by believers because of lack of context in study of the Bible. You can only avoid the manipulation of your spiritual life by the devil when you study the word of God in context. Do not read a story without understanding the background and other things behind and surrounding the story. This is the reason it was easy for Jesus to live in obedience to God as a man. Let the whole Bible background understanding guide you while reading a small portion of it. You cannot isolate the Old Testament in your understanding of the New Testament just like you cannot isolate the New Testament in your study of the Old Testament.
You cannot isolate any Bible book while studying another book if you will have a perfect understanding of the word of God. This is the only way you can show yourself approved of God and dividing the word of truth rightly (2 Timothy 2:15)..

Daily Task
Mention five beliefs in our days that are taken out of context.

Prayers
1. Father, I receive grace to understand Your intention.
2. Father, help me to know the truth in Your truth.

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