The Next Generation - Truth
There is a battle going on in our lives today for truth. Never before have we been faced with the struggle as to what is truth as we ate today. We see it in our political system where we cannot depend on truth from our representatives leading our nation. Moral issues like abortion, homosexuality, and what constitutes a family divides our nation as to what is truth. As we continue to look to Joshua, we see where God uses the scriptures of Moses, as the instructions he is to hold as truth in his quest to reach the promise land. Joshua's strict obedience gave him the wisdom and the strength and courage to reach the next generation in God's plan.
What is truth? How do we know when we are really getting the truth? I want to pass on to my children and grandchildren the true answer to what is truth. I not only want them to be able to relay a matter truthfully, but also to have the strength and courage to confess what is truth. So, what is truth today? Quite naturally, truth is the opposite of falsehood. If we look to the world for truth, we can get a variety of answers. The world says that truth is in the mind of the hearer - everything is relative. What keeps us from really knowing, or even wanting to know the truth? It is the same old story. Pride and self drive us to seek and relay the truth we want rather than the truth that is. We have the world's view and we have the truth as perceived by God. Romans 1: 25 tells us: "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator. Do we do this same thing?
It is the truth from God that we need to pass on to the next generation. In searching the scriptures, we find Jesus providing the path to real truth. In fact, if we search His words as to why He came, we will find that He proclaimed over seventy times that He came "to testify to the truth." When Jesus was taken before Pilate, He was asked was he a King? Jesus answered: "You are right for saying that I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth."( John 18: 37) Pilate then asked: "What is truth?" The depth of these questions is one that everyone at some time must answer - What is the truth about Jesus? We find in the next several verses where Jesus sets out the truth about himself. In verse 38, we find where no one could find any fault in Him. Jesus was sinless. In verse 40, we find where Jesus was the substitute for our sins. Jesus died for our sins. In the description of the trial of Jesus in Luke 22: 70, Jesus was asked if he was the Son of God. His reply: "You are right in saying that I am." Jesus was the Son of God. Previously in John 14: 6, Jesus proclaims that He is the only way to Heaven: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." There is no other way than Jesus that we can have eternal life: not works, not being good, not attending church, not even believing all the things about Jesus. It takes a decision to believe to the point we follow Him by surrendering all our life to Him.
Every person has to deal with what is the truth about God. Once we establish the one true God, then we must deal with who is Jesus. All our information about God and Jesus comes from the Bible. How we view the Bible, God's Word, as truth will determine our stance on all we consider. Is the Bible the true word of God or is it not? For some, we want to take certain parts of it as truth and other parts as the authors opinion. We make God and his word into who and what we want it to be. Let's face it, God's word on many situations, can stand in the way of our own plans, views, and desires. We want it to fit our opinion or situation for today. We must ask ourselves - what kind of seeker are we? Are we seeking the truth, or, are we seeking what we want to believe?
"All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of God stands forever." (1Peter 1: 24,25). "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edge sword, it penetrates to dividing the soul and spirit, joints and morrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12). These words of scripture are hard for us to accept for it tells us the words of God never go away and that these words will rip us apart in what we want to believe. What we must believe is that "all scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16) As I read these verses, I find them difficult to actually accept for they stand against everything I do not want to do. I want to resist being taught, to be rebuked or corrected by someone else, and I also want to determine my own righteousness.
If I am to live the life Christ demands that I live, and if I want to pass this life on to my children, then I must accept God's word as truth. I must resist the desire to pick and choose the views and words that suit me. The world is doing all it can to exchange the Truth for a lie. The next generation's future depends on what I do with the truth.
