Jer. 10:11-24
Rom. 5:12-21
John 8:21-32
John 8:21-32
21Again he said to them, “I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22Then the Jews said, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 3He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.” 25They said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Why do I speak to you at all? 26I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. 28So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me. 29And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” 30As he was saying these things, many believed in him. 31Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
Today we hear Jesus predicting his death, but no one understands him. However, he ends with a promise to those who do believe. “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”Truth is liberating. You know how it is when you tell even a ‘little white lie’. Inevitably it mushrooms and gets out of control. Pretty soon you forget who you have told what to and slip up. Meanwhile you are on edge trying not to get caught in your lie.
Of course, it’s not easy to tell the truth 100% of the time. Is it easier to say you like someone’s new shoes or to tell her “they are the ugliest things I’ve ever seen”? Not telling the truth opens you up to the temptation of gossiping about the shoes later and then the truth gets back to her.
Sometimes the truth is not easy to believe. For instance, if you had never seen or heard of water lilies, would you believe it if someone said flowers can grow and float in a pond of water?
Jesus is the ultimate Truth or Authenticity and by following Him, we can live a life of integrity. He says that when we remain in his word (thought, way) then that “truth will make you free.” We can believe the unbelievable truth that He rose from the dead.
Having Truth within us may, disturb us, as in this poem attributed to Sir Frances Drake:
Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
How can we live “in strength, courage, hope, and love” so that we are disciples, remaining in Christ’s truth? Can you take time to stop and think before telling even the littlest ‘white lie’? Would that change your relationship with God and with those around you?
For your journal: Think over the last 24 hours. Were you truthful 100% of the time or did you prevaricate once or twice? Write about what else you might have done in these instances?
