Of course no one would want to stone the boy and so Craig would question whether they really believed what was written in the Bible.

Deuteronomy 21:1-23

Reference:  v.18  If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him... (NIV Bible)

Explore:   The Chaser is a satirical news team who aim to bring comedy to contemporary issues.  They tend to push the boundaries during each of their TV show series and have offended many people in the process.  I'm not an avid follower however the other day I saw one of their most recent clips.  One of the team, Craig, was in America with a young boy posing to be his son.  Craig had a Bible and was asking passing Americans if they believed what was written within.  If they said yes then he would drag his 'son' over to them and tell them he'd been disobedient so could they please stone him - referring to this passage in Deuteronomy.  Of course no one would want to stone the boy and so Craig would question whether they really believed what was written in the Bible.  They only focussed on a few people passing by who struggled to believe that such an instruction was written in the Bible.  And yet Craig had it written in black and white.

Application:  As we read through Deuteronomy, and a number of Old Testament books, we see many laws and instructions of how God had commanded His people to live.  Some can easily translate in to our lives today, however there are others that seem so removed from our cultural norms.  The challenge is what we do with all these commands today?  To say they were only relevant back in the day when the Israelites were heading towards the Promised Land is maybe a bit flippant.  However to say that every word from the Bible should be directly transferable to 2009 is maybe a bit naive. 
I guess we need to remember that God's wisdom was not just dispersed to those who wrote scripture but is also readily available to us today.  Stoning someone's son because he uses bad language is a no-brainer as to whether it is wisdom from God.  However, if we are trying to discern something that is less obvious it is important to reflect on passages from the Old Testament, the New Testament as well as praying today that God would open our eyes to what is best in His eyes.  God is still alive today and desires to be in relationship with us.  He is there for us to help direct our paths and to give us wisdom.

Prayer:  Lord, there are certainly some difficult decisions that we have to make in our lives.  Open our eyes to see Your truth today.  Amen.

How have you gone about discerning God's wisdom in your life today?