In an era when searching for truth is an issue for some, believers can be certain that there is a dependable source, and that is God’s Word.
Social media and news cycles bombard us with information, not all of it reliable, so how can we know the difference between what is right and what is wrong?
Shorthand world
The thing is, does the world around us really care about the actual truth of any given situation? It is tempting for some to go with the flow of information, regardless of its accuracy, to follow the crowd and pull back from seeking actual truth because it often requires investigation and confirmation. Who has time to dig for truth?
Of course, this risks being culled from the herd if it is discovered that the truth has been obscured for social or political gain and we are compelled to say something about it.
There is also a tendency for many to live on sound bites and headlines rather than digging into facts. No story is as simple as a headline, yet we seem to be required to form our own opinions on a handful of words. In this regard our world has shrunk into shorthand.
When so much of what we hear or watch seems to revolve around political, conspiratorial and societal opinion rather than always reflecting what is genuine and trustworthy, we have to make a decision about what we choose to hear, believe, and, importantly, what we act on.
We need to be proactive in this regard, and consistent in our approach, or we can become overwhelmed with the bombardment of rumour and innuendo, half-truths and supposition. We need to know the truth, don’t we?
Only one way
For the believer the only viable solution to the truth issue is the Word of God. He has made it clear that He cannot lie, and this makes absolute sense, because, being a good God, there would never be a reason for Him to lie to us. As Jesus said, “No one is good but One, that is, God (Mark 10:18).”
Romans 3:4 says, “Let God be true and every man a liar.” Only God knows all truth. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).
Conversely, God’s adversary the devil is called the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). He issued the first attack on the truth and made himself the architect of antichrist sentiment.
All who are under his spell are subject to his lies and educated in the ultimate lie that God doesn’t exist, or that God is so distant that we are powerless in seeking Him, or that the enemy of Christ makes himself the fake god of this world, usurping God’s position for those who refuse to believe, who are called the children of disobedience (Eph.2:1-2).
So real truth is only found in God. We can discover the truth but we need to come around to His way of thinking to fully grasp it.
“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Numbers 23:19-20
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Behold, I have received a command to bless;
He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.”
This is from the account where a tribesman, Balak, wanted the prophet Balaam to curse Israel, but, being a prophet of God Balaam could not go against God’s will because, God being God, He must be true to His own words.
Verse 20 had to be included because it is so wonderful. Once God’s command to bless is issued it cannot be countermanded. The wayward prophet Balaam, as much as he wanted to go against God’s will to accommodate Balak, yet had the command from God to bless, and it was irreversible. God had said it, so it must be so. He cannot lie.
The irony was that Balaam, in this episode, attempted to defy God and curse Israel, but he could not. There was no way to go against God’s Word once it was spoken in truth.
God speaks to us through His Word. His will is His Word. The two go together. His Word is His will.
We can rely on His Word because He cannot lie. He has spoken and therefore it will come to pass.
Whatever God is saying to us through His Word can be trusted and we can apply it to our lives in full confidence.
Impartation
The important issue is to remain steadfast in the Word of God. We need to read, study and live out the Word, then we are living in God’s will and there is an impartation of spiritual truth into our lives that will empower and enable us to distinguish between what is real and what is fake when it comes to all of the issues of life.
We are also to guard our hearts, out of which come all of those issues, by not allowing ourselves to be detoured by worldly issues and opinions (Pro.4:23).
We are called saints, separated ones, which means we are separated from the world and separated onto God, His particular people. We are separated, not isolated. We are in the world, but not of the world (John 17:16).
We are to be distinguished from worldliness and encapsulated by God’s will in and for our lives. We are to be above it all.
Finally, for this piece, we are to guard our very words. By keeping our hearts filled with God’s Word we will speak His will rather than the world’s desires and opinions. Out of the abundance of the heart our mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).
By filling our heart with God’s will through His word we will help become the solution rather than the problem and be truth-tellers, imparting God’s will to the world.
