Truth

Psalm 119:30
I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws.

Truth is relative, or at least that’s what many people would like to believe. But when we really consider it, truth cannot be relative, otherwise how could it be truth? I mean, gravity is truth - even if you don’t believe in it, it will still affect you. If you go jump off a building, you can believe with all that you are that gravity is relative, but you’ll still come smashing to the ground.

So, how do we know what truth is? We could poll 10 people and come up with 10 different answers, and they could all seem logical. So, does that mean that truth is logical? Well, again, depends on who you ask. And this is where we must each make up our own minds. Who are we going to believe? The guy next door? The lady on TV? Our friend from High School? There are really so many options . . .

Of course, we could always turn to the One who is Truth. If He is truth, then everything from His mouth would be truth, as well - He cannot lie. So, the next step would be - is the Word of God truly the Word of God? Well, either it is or it isn’t - we can’t pick and choose the verses we like or don’t - because then we’re back to who we’re going to believe. Either the Word of God is true or it is not.

But what about translation? Surely there could be mistakes there. Well, first of all, we can go back and look at the original language, and see for ourselves the use of each word - there are many tools and resources that allow us to do that, even for those of us who are not Hebrew or Greek scholars. So, if you don’t trust the translation, go check it out for yourself. Beyond that, however, what we really need to look at is our idea of God, in this case. Is God so limited and powerless that He can’t make absolutely sure that His Word - His most precious tool sent to help, guide, encourage and challenge us, is translated correctly? If that is the case, then I’m afraid that god isn’t worth serving, is he?

So, this is where it leads us. Our God is mighty, and sovereign. He can make sure that His Word is translated correctly - all in a days work for Him! He is truth and that makes His Word truth. When we open the Bible, we open the very truth of God! Isn’t that amazing? It is almost as though His voice speaks the words into our minds, and His breath goes into our very bones, changing us with each breath.

If we want to walk in the truth, whether it always seems logical or not, whether our neighbors or friends or family believe or not, we need to set our hearts on the Word of God. It is really the only thing we can turn to in full trust, and knowledge that we are getting the full truth. Sometimes the truth is hard, difficult to swallow, even painful. It doesn’t always make sense, or seem the logical thing, especially in our finite minds. But when all else fails, we can trust it, because it comes to us from a loving, holy, righteous, truthful God!