Cast your mind back a few years, when all we had were cameras that worked with the 36mm films. I had one of those cameras in my final secondary school year and I was really feeling cool with myself because there were not many cameras in my school back then.
Every professional camera man had to attend functions with a number of those films because the camera was as good as kerosene to a diesel engine without them. Attending a function without enough replenishment films presents even the best of photographers as an unarmed soldier. Can you even begin to imagine what it feels like being an unarmed soldier at the battlefront? It’s almost unthinkable, but that’s exactly the situation that the Israelites faced in 1Samuel 13:22
So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.
I am convinced that this is not a good situation to be in, because it leaves the army utterly helpless and prone to devastating losses.
This reflects the condition of many believers today. God has freely given us His Word as the Sword of the Spirit; a very potent weapon. Many of us are literate enough to read and understand the Scriptures, but we are content to just sit and listen to ‘The king and his son’ every Sunday at church or during the mid-week service. Like the song says: “…Oh what things we often forfeit…” because we choose not to study our Bibles for ourselves.
We expose ourselves to the influence false teachings and their peddlers, who are more than happy to turn us into slaves. Our only defence is the personal knowledge of the truth and revelation in the knowledge of God. This comes from the place of diligent study of the Word. There is no known short cut yet. We were warned in Matthew 24:24:
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Beware! The false teachings that will almost deceive the very elect will sound like the real truth. If you don’t know the real truth, you will fall for it. Study and arm yourself with the real truth. God’s grace is sufficient.
Chidi Ukandu's Blog 
Thank you so much Chidi for this piece. Someone once gave an analogy of studying the Word of God ourselves vis-a-vis depending on what we get from Church or just listening to messages. The latter is likened to being hungry and getting to the FAST FOOD restaurant to eat while the former is going home to prepare a good meal. This obviously takes time but at the end, it is relished. It is also often healthier. Conversely, the fast food meal is taken just to fill up and it is mostly JUNK meals (not very healthy). We all know the effect of these two scenarios so that a perfect picture of what this article is putting forth can be well cast.
Thanks Tolu. You couldn’t have said it any better. That’s a perfect picture. God bless you.