I looked at what I had just typed (or what I thought I had just typed) but instead saw before me pure gibberish, unrecognizable letters and symbols strung together, making absolutely no sense. What I saw on the computer screen before me was definitely not what I had just finished typing! Well, it was not what I had intended to type and by extension not what I had intended to say.

Then I looked down at my keyboard, more to the point, I looked at my fingers on said keyboard and what had happened immediately became clear to me. It was the placement of my fingers on the keyboard that was the culprit. Nothing major, just one key off sideways in either direction or one row off up or down and nothing will come out right. And nothing had come out right. The proof of that was on my computer screen!

You cannot start from a wrong position and expect things to turn out right. Yet that was exactly what I had done. My fingers were positioned one key off from the correct starting position. My fingers had executed their motions correctly, but from a wrong starting position. I had done everything right except to check to make sure I started with my fingers on the correct keys.

If I start from a wrong position I will end up at a wrong place. If I began with a false premise I will arrive at a false conclusion. What starts with a lie cannot end in the truth. It is an impossibility. Truth is the foundation upon which freedom is formed. This is the lesson my keyboard taught me today.

I am told we are living in a “post-truth” era. Facts don’t matter, it is feelings that are given precedence and followed. I don’t know about you, dear readers, but I freely confess – on any given day my feelings run the gamut, they are all over the place. So my truth is an ever changing entity. This does not inspire much confidence in me as I attempt to ascertain what is true.

God’s word is truth, eternal truth. I read in Psalm 119:160 these words,

“All Your words are true; all Your righteous laws are eternal.”

and in John 17:17 Jesus’s prayer for His disciples was,

“Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.”

We are also told in Matthew 24:35,

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.”

The words of Isaiah 40:8 proclaim the same truth about God’s word saying,

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”

So there is truth – the enduring, unchanging truth found in God’s holy, living word. I read in John 16:13,

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you (me) into all truth.”

This is what I long for – truth. I don’t want to build my life on a lie. Actually, there is something else I desire greatly and that is freedom. These words of Jesus often come to mind as I ponder the relationship between truth and freedom,

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

That is what I want – to know the truth and to be free. There is an important truth in God’s word that is incorporated into our Declaration of Independence. It is this,

“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights . . . ”

We are all equal because we are all created by God in His image, deriving our intrinsic value from our Creator.

“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

So it is the premise contained in our own Declaration of Independence that holds the promise for each and every one of us as citizens. The promise is contained in the premise that all men (people) being equal is a self-evident truth.

This promise procures for each of us access to the protections of our constitution. This is a promise of endless possibilities and opportunities for us as free individuals to pursue prosperity for ourselves and for our children in peace and tranquility.

Why has America been a symbol of freedom, promise and opportunity to the rest of the world throughout her brief history? Could it be because she was founded on a truthful premise, straight from God’s word? (that being that all people are created by God and therefore are equally valuable and have equal rights given them by their Creator) This is a truth that government should not interfere with but instead exist to protect.

Our founding fathers started with truth, with a true premise. So there is hope that in the working out of and in the living up to that truth, America can attain to good ends. America was not founded on a false premise, but on truth. Truth is a sure foundation for freedom to flourish. But in truth’s absence freedom will die.

America started with her hands correctly placed on the keyboard, acknowledging God as our Creator and as the giver of our human rights. (remember God’s word is truth, eternal truth – the only truth in an ever changing world)

Now, even though America’s hands were correctly placed on the keyboard, the movements of her fingers (unlike mine) have not always been flawless and mistakes have been made. But her starting place is truth so arriving at a destination of liberty and justice for all is possible. But if you start with a lie, you will never arrive at the truth. And without truth, you will never be free.

Today I am wondering if America will live up to her founding documents (the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution) or if she will make a deal with the devil so to speak. Historically, it happens often. As Paul said in Romans 1:25,

“The exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised. Amen.”

America became a bastion of freedom for the oppressed precisely because she was founded on the truth of God, not government, giving us our rights. Governments are to protect and defend those rights of the individual, not restrict nor usurp them. But if we began to believe the lie that it is government who determines who and what has value, rather than God’s word, we will go down a very different path. Remember, if you start with a lie, you will never arrive at the truth. A lie cannot lead to truth.

Today many may be praying that we remain the land of the free and the home of the brave. I guess that will depend in part on how brave the brave actually are right about now to speak out and not remain silent. The world is watching, waiting, hoping that freedom’s light is not extinguished in a final flurry of fire. rather let it rain . . .

“You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the Lord, have created it.” (Isaiah 45:8)

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” ( 2 Corinthians 3:17)

sincerely, Grace Day