Tuesday, May 16, 2017

May 16

I Samuel 18:5-19:24; John 8:31-59; Psalm 112:1-10; Proverbs 15:12-14

What is truth? That is a question people ask a lot these days.  According to most people, we should all be able to live out of our own definitions of truth. And if you try to make anyone live according to your own personal truth, you will be dismissed and labeled. We might think this is something unique to our time period, but it has actually been happening throughout history.

Look at our example in I Samuel with Saul being so angry at David for doing good things for the people of Israel (I Sam. 19:5). Saul was believing his own truths and they were leading him greatly astray. But Saul was blind to it. He was so convinced the truth he heard in his head about David was right that he even tried to kill David, an innocent man, numerous times. 

In John 8:32, Jesus says, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." The people listening are flabbergasted. According to them, they have been living by the truth all along. What do they need to be set free from? They, too, are so convinced that the truth in their own heads has to be the only one there is. 

Here is a truth I had to try very hard to believe recently- a righteous man "will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord" (Ps. 112:7).  I had this written on my index cards and posted on my mirrors as a daily, hourly, minute-by-minute reminder that I need not fear. There was a season of my life when fear wanted to take ahold of me. But the truth is, my heart is secure, it is steadfast, it is trusting in the Lord because in the end I will look in triumph on my foes (Ps. 112:7, 8).

What lies are competing with the Truth in your own life right now? Jesus longs to set us free. "If the Son sets you free, you WILL BE free indeed" (Jn. 8:36, emphasis mine). What good news! Who wants to walk in that freedom?!  Let's live according to the one and only truth. Let's let go of our own truths, no matter how convincing they may be in our own heads, and follow the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.


- Mary Matthias


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