Walking in Truth
When a child begins to talk, he walks in a world of truth, delightful for those who hear him. Crystal clear truth without coloring in a dazzling array of dizzying half-truths.
Then Jesus came with this truth, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6.
Truth leads the way through life. How we desire life and want to do anything we have to make certain we cling to life.
As a child, I remember hearing, “Cross my heart and hope to die,” to prove something was true. I thought it seemed reckless to say, “hope to die.” What if God was listening?
God is the original Promise Keeper. No matter what He promises, we can depend on His promises to be dependable and true. God made a promise to Abraham, and there was no one more powerful than Him, so God swore on Himself. Hebrews 6:13-18, So God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of His purpose, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
Why is it more difficult for the people God created to keep the promises they make? Marriages crumble for many reasons. Families break up and anger takes the place of love. Is the reason our promise of love and the way God loves differs because of ‘the way God loves and the way we love?”
How often I think of the beautiful Father-Son relationship of God the Father and Jesus the son at this moment: And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him, and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17.
What do we believe when we see what God has created? Who else brings the dawn each morning and at dusk places the stars in space? Who brings each new season and who places eternity in each new baby who will be born? Who dried the Red Sea so the Israelites could escape the Egyptians? Who protected Daniel and his friends in the lions’ den? Who else could teach Noah how to build an ark? Who raised Jesus alive after three days in the tomb?
We often desire our own reality and our own truth. An old sin that began with Eve in the Garden of Eden when she took a bite of the fruit of the tree of life. She wanted to become like God. How often those on earth express the desire to have their own way, their own life, without realizing the fallacy of their thinking in God’s Truth and His World.
It is God’s truth that sets us free. In John 8:31-36, we read how to be free. The more we think about the word of God, the clearer we are in His purpose for our lives.
So, Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. “
One year my sixth graders wrote about what freedom meant to them. No rules, longer recesses, and better lunches are what they wrote. Addiction to sin and satisfying worldly appetites can soon mean being chained tightly to anything but freedom. Sad is the one who is enslaved to sin, addicted to a way that draws us away from the truth gives us freedom.
Freedom means a relation of love, respect, adoration, with no stumbling blocks of lies between the two people. No shame, no doubt, no guilt, no hiding as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden after they sinned.
What are the wages of sin? For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23.
Belonging to Jesus brings freedom and fresh joy in our lives. It frees us from mediocrity and insignificance. Living by sliding by in your ‘ought to’s’ is no way to live.
When I was young, the lyrics of the chorus of this song intrigued me and still do more than seventy years later. Why should He love me so? Why should my Savior to Calvary go? Why should He love me so?
Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You, I wait all day long. Remember your mercy, O Lord, and Your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Psalm 25:4-6.
Comments? eacombs@att.net