How can we Know?
John 17:17 Sanctify them (or set them apart as a special people) by Your truth. Your word is truth.
This Got Me to Thinking!
I was awakened on a recent Saturday morning by a call from a man who told me that he and his family were without food and that they couldn’t get any help from the Salvation Army or the food bank until Monday morning. I had helped him once before and had given him a piece of literature dealing with how I became a Christian so he had my phone number. Now he was using it. But I questioned whether he was telling me the truth. Why hadn’t he realized he was in trouble on Friday when he could have gotten some help from the food bank? And why did he know what he wanted from the grocery store including brands? Do I believe him or not? He may be one of the best con men I have ever helped. Anyway, I went to Aldi’s and bought him and his family groceries. I didn’t really do it out of the goodness of my heart. I did it because the Lord tells me to help the poor and there are months when I am just a few dollars shy of where he said he was. But I do believe God when He says His Son died to save me and when He says He will take care of me. So far, He has never left me or my family hungry. Fortunately, I have not had to become a professional beggar, as some religious demagogues have, in order to keep food on the table. I realize that it isn’t because of my strong faith that I haven’t had to beg, it is because of the faithfulness of my God. Did I believe the man who called me? Not really! Do I believe God? Absolutely. Do I believe everything that others tell me I should believe about God? Absolutely not!
What is Truth?
Even Pilate had trouble knowing what Truth was. When he was sitting in judgment with the Lord before Him he said, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all.” (John 18:37-38). I think Pilate disregarded what he knew to be true in order to save his own skin. But what is truth? Many people get so frustrated trying to decide what and who they should believe that they give up trying to discern the truth. For others, they just put their faith in some man or in some organization and follow what they do and say. That way at least they “belong.” I guess I am kind of like that. I have put my faith in the Lord Jesus. Because of that I belong to a community of people called the church. But I have found that even within that community, sometimes I have trouble knowing what to believe.
Actually, believing God is difficult and the Lord tells us that. He says in Isaiah 55:8-9, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” In order to believe God, we have to have a thinking adjustment because what we think is right in a natural way is generally wrong when it comes to spiritual truth. The Jews thought that Barabbas made more sense as a national deliverer than the Lord did. Barabbas was willing to fight. But the Lord was the real deal and the religious leaders convinced Pilate and the crowds to crucify Him.
We all Believe Something
One of the big controversies of our times has to do with fake news. How does one tell the real from the fake particularly when we know that even the more respected news sources are biased? So when we cannot depend on current writers, when we realize that much of that which is called truth today is nothing more than political propaganda, why would anyone believe the Bible which educated people keep questioning? Particularly when it says we were created and that we didn’t evolve out of nothing. Why should we believe in the story of the flood and in the story of Jonah? Actually I believe these things because I think they make sense. If I didn’t believe what the Bible says, what would I have to fall back on for my belief system? I would have to fall back on what I think is right. Since everyone thinks differently, that leads to confusion and anarchy.
I Believe God
I am told I am a very suspicious person. I find it hard to take people at their word. I have been burned by so-called friends; we have all been burned by business people. The products we buy are warrantied until we try to use the warranty and then for some reason, our problem is not covered. We have all been burned by politicians. And while I don’t want to be too negative because there are people over the years that I should have trusted that I didn’t, still it is difficult to know who is telling the truth.
I had a difficult time coming to the conclusion that God will not lie and that he has told me the truth when He says that Christ died for the ungodly of which I am one. I am not like God and neither is anyone reading this. But 53 years ago about this time of the year, I took God at His Word when He told me in the Bible that Christ had died for me so that I could go to heaven. I have made it my business to study the Bible ever since and I try to make sure that I am rightly interpreting it. I don’t take Jewish promises as my own. I take Christian promises as my own. And so far, God has been faithful. For that I am thankful!
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of November 20, 2016