Furthering Thoughts for April 2nd, 2019

“There is no truth; it’s whatever you make it to be for yourself”.

This is how it unfolds.
From 2nd Timothy 3:2-4
2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God……and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth”.

As I prepare our confirmation students for their final test at the end of the month, there is a section designated for “true or false” questions. Who doesn’t love the T/F? This is the beauty of the fifty/fifty, and true/false. There is no middle ground, there are no fence sitters, but simply, there is one side and the other, True or false.

But what is truth? Is it our own blueprint? Our own perspective? Our own opinion? What truth do we trust? In an age of youtube influencers, twitter followers, cult of celebrity, talk show hosts, motivational speakers, philosophers etc, there are many channels [for better and for worse] that we are exposed to.

But we must ask,
What does the Word of God say? This is the habitual question that I ask myself because we face a world that is constantly trying catechizes all of us. And though our itching ears may be tempted by their words, “it is whatever you make it to be for yourself”, we very well know that if truth is made from ourselves we are doomed. We saw it in the fall [Gen3] and we see it now .

The other day, Zo and I were baking cookies, and as I tend to be a stickler for following directions, I failed to melt the butter all the way. And though I should have melted it a bit more, I didn’t . So, I started to mix the half-melted butter with the eggs and tablespoon of water, it looked like a clumpy mess. Wisely, I started over.

But it reminded me as I told my daughter, “this is what happens when your dad doesn’t follow directions”. So it is with this, “whatever you make it to be for yourself” type of life. For without the truth, we are left with a clumpy mess of sin. A recipe for disaster.

And for you and me, we need to be honest with ourselves. What truth do we hold onto? Examine yourself and repent. For me, it’s a constant, and thus I love the hymn, “Jesus Savior Pilot Me”, or “Christ be my leader”, because it always reminds me that He is the pilot, and He is the leader. Thus I too repent for I try far too often to take the reigns for myself.

But thanks be to God for the truth in Christ Jesus that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us[Rm5:8]. Jesus is the truth that sets us free[Jn8:32] by way of His death and resurrection. And though the grass withers and the flowers fade, the Word of God endures forever [Is40:8]. Because His Word is Truth and our hope is built on nothing less…only Christ!

Enjoy this day in the Lord’s truth!

+PrJ