Truth

I had an appointment this morning to meet someone at 10:00. I left in time to be there 10 minutes early. As I meditated while driving, my philosophy has always been, I'd rather be an hour early than a minute late.

When I make a commitment to someone, no matter how small, I want to fulfill it. The Bible is clear, that being dependable and trustworthy in small things is important. Years ago, I gave a deposition in a legal case. The normal requirement is to take an oath that what you are about to say is true, but as Christians we are instructed not to take oaths:

Matthew 5:33-37 NKJV  "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.'  34  But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne;  35  nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  36  Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.  37  But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

I said that for religious reasons, I would not take an oath, but would affirm that what I was about to say was true. That was accepted by the lawyers present.  What is the reason, for the instruction from Jesus for no oath taking?

I believe it is because we are not to have differing levels of truth telling, in effect every word of ours is, or should be an oath to be strictly adhered to.

If I cannot be depended upon in what I say in the small things, such as being somewhere at an appointed time, how can I be depended on for truth telling in the big things, such as my testimony of the wonderful things God has done in my life?

This applies to every aspect of truth. . .even when no one is looking. . .even when there is no chance of being caught in a lie, always tell the truth. . .


I love You my God. . .

I love Your Word. . .




Dave 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When Your Mother Dies. . .

Lessons learned when you were four become much more meaningful. . . The temperature of the whole world chills a little. . . Toll House cookies are no longer merely a snack, but a monument. . . Mothers day changes from an obligation to a craving. . . Sometimes the air thins and you gasp for breath just sitting in a chair. . . Crying for Mommy returns after a fifty year absence. . . You lose something vast and precious that you didn't even know you had. . . You crave being held and hugged all the time. . . The last time you spoke to her is now at the bottom of a big ache. . . Tears are found in totally unexpected places. . . Never again. . . her magical home made vegetable soup. . . wonderful green beans, potatoes, and ham that aren't falling apart and soupy. . .meat loaf with just the perfect amount of ketchup on top. . . those just right crispy fried potatoes. . . never again. . . for ever. . . Your chance to repay an enormous debt is lost. . . You lose ...
Read more

How to Find a Great Church. . .

Image
or Beetles and Bell Curves. . . The following is expanded from a talk that I gave at a men's meeting at the Elkhart County Jail March 11, 2009 Many years ago I heard on the radio, or read in a magazine or book, or saw on television. . . I just cannot remember even what medium I saw this on. . .anyway,  a scientist talked about what he could deduce about God from the design of the universe.  This man's response fascinated me and I have continued to ponder upon it for some twenty or twenty-five years after hearing it. This scientist said that he could tell two things about God from the design of the universe.  The first being that God has an inordinate love of beetles.  Zoologists have catalogued roughly 700,000 species of insects and almost half of those are various kinds of beetles.  Of all living plants and animals roughly 20% of that entire number are beetles.  That was the first thing that this scientist noticed about God's creation. The second thing was...
Read more

A Measurement Standard. . .

Image
A kilogram is currently defined by a standard cylinder of platinum-iridium alloy which is kept at the International bureau of weights and measures near Paris, France. On May 20th of this year a new definition will replace the platinum-iridium artifact association. The new definition will be: taking the fixed numerical value of the Planck constant h to be 6.62607015×10−34 when expressed in the unit J⋅s, which is equal to kg⋅m2⋅s−1, where the metre and the second are defined in terms of c and ΔνCs. A second is defined as the amount of time a cesium-133 atom takes to vibrate 9,192,631,770 times. A compass points to the magnetic pole of the earth to determine the direction north. A meter is defined as 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of orange-red light, in a vacuum, produced by burning the element krypton-86. In each of these cases, a measurement is determined by something outside of what is being measured. . . something independent of the measurer. Where am I going with this? For t...
Read more