There are a lot of people searching for Truth these days, which begs the question why? Isn’t Truth obvious and therefore easy to find? Apparently not. One of the reasons for this could be that we live in a “post-truth” world. “Post-truth” was the 2016 word of the year. I guess that’s our current culture’s way of telling us that we have moved beyond Truth, whatever that means? We hear expressions such as “live your truth” or there’s “my truth” and “your truth” but nothing universally objective that we can all agree on that is truth.

I’m thinking there used to be a popular TV game show called, “To tell the truth.” Wonder how that would work today if no one can agree on what is true or if there is no truth? In court, witnesses used to be required to place their right hand on the Bible and promise to “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God”, before taking the stand. So it hasn’t been all that long ago that we agreed as a society that there are things that are “true” and things that are not true, or in other words, things that are false.

Knowing there are things that are true is the only way you and I can make sense of our surroundings and learn how to live in this world. Water boils at 212 degrees and freezes at 32 degrees (Fahrenheit) – I can count on that happening. Long ago, people learned to navigate by the stars because the stars are constant in their movements across the sky. It isn’t arbitrary – there is truth to be discovered. I’m grateful gravity is true – it’s what keeps me grounded, literally. (pun intended) Airplanes get us where we want to go because certain laws of physics and aerodynamics are true. If these laws were constantly changing, we would not have air travel. That seems to be a hallmark of Truth – it does not change.

Knowing truth seems important to survival. In fact I read in Proverbs 14:12 this –

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”

If I don’t know the Truth, I will believe the lie. I will believe any and every lie of culture, of man, of philosophy, of religion set before me if I don’t have an unchanging standard of Truth against which to measure each idea or bit of information put before me. Many things will seem reasonable, plausible, even beneficial to me, but if not the Truth, they will lead me away from life and toward my destruction. That’s the thing – lies enslave me. Truth sets me free.

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

So the question becomes – “can I know the Truth?” Turns out I can know the Truth. Jesus said in John 14:6 this –

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’ ”

Could it be that Jesus is that unchanging, eternal Truth that I so desire to know in this world of constantly changing “truths”, ideas and information that change daily if not hourly, leaving me confused, skeptical and unsure how to proceed because I don’t know whom to trust or in which direction I should go? In Hebrews I read this about Jesus,

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

That’s good news. Jesus is the Truth and He does not change! Eternal Truth, living Truth – a firm foundation to build my life upon instead of the swarm of constantly changing lies that surround you and I twenty-four/seven today thanks to being globally connected via internet. Here’s more good news –

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

Another assurance that Truth is unchanging because God Himself is unchanging, unlike our everchanging, unpredictable world. In John 17:17, I learn this about Truth. As Jesus prayed for His disciples He said,

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

Makes sense, Jesus is the Truth, God’s word is Truth and Jesus is the Living Word!

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

Jesus, “full of grace and truth” came to set us free from the lies that have held us captive for so long. These lies began in the garden when the serpent whispered to Eve, “Did God really say . . .?” The serpent got Eve to doubt God, then to believe the lie and we have been in bondage to lies disguised as truth ever since. (“There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”) Jesus identified the source of all lies when He said this to the crowds pursuing Him –

“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)

It is lies, falsehoods, and deception that the enemy of our souls uses to separate us from our Heavenly Father by getting us to doubt Him – getting us to doubt His character, His goodness, His faithfulness and His great mercy and compassion towards us. We forget the Truth which tells us –

“The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made. . . . The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.” (Psalm 145:8-9 & 13-14)

That’s the Truth about who God is. When we no longer know the Truth, when we have long forsaken and forgotten it – it is then that we begin to believe any and all lies put to us as truth. The apostle Paul, warned the Colossians about this very thing saying –

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)

Lies enslave – Truth sets free. Jesus, God’s Son, is the Truth and I am told in His Word, which is Truth –

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

It is the Truth, Jesus, the Living Word, which protects me from the lies and deceptions that would otherwise separate me from my Creator and take me captive, if I did not have God’s Truth guarding my heart and mind. God has said He will write His laws on our hearts so that we will know Him. For my part, I will be diligent to do this, so that I will know the Truth and therefore will recognize and not believe the lie, any lie which goes against the Truth of God’s Word –

“I have hidden Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:11)

“The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip.” (Psalm 37:31)

sincerely, Grace Day