DAILY DEVOTION No

DAILY DEVOTION No. 43

WHAT IS TRUTH?

John 18:37-38 37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him.

"What is truth?" This is a common question that is asked by believer and non-believer alike. That is why it is important that we as Christians know the answer. There are many definitions of truth as follows: The quality or being true; as: (a) Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been; or shall be. (b) Conformity to rule; exactness; (c) Fidelity; constancy; steadfastness; faithfulness. (d) The practice of speaking what is true; freedom from falsehood; veracity.

To present truth we must know the truth ourselves. Because Jesus Christ is the truth as well as the living Word, to know Him is to know truth. It is important that we live in the Word and let it become our daily bread. John 8:32 32 says Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." In other words, to know Jesus is to be truly free. Pilot didn't know Jesus personally so he had no understanding of truth remained a prisoner to sin and to self.

The people of this world belong to either of two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Darkness or the Kingdom of Light. Without Christ, the people belong to the Kingdom of Darkness and are blinded by Satan the prince of lies. In him there is no truth at all so while they remain a part of his kingdom, they remain in deception.

John 4:23 says 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. John 1:17 tells us “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” He was "full of grace and truth." He is the Truth, the fulfillment of the rituals and shadows, the forms and types, through which both Jew and Samaritan were able to approach God. Happily, our approach to God in relationship and worship is in Him, the Truth, not through another law but a Person. We cannot worship the Father unless we come through Jesus because He is the Way the Truth and the Life.

Looking at it in another perspective, the word truth in John 4:23 is "alethia" which means true or that candour of mind which is free from affection, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit, and is derived from the word "alethes" which literally means,"to take notice". When Jesus said we must worship in truth, He was saying that God is looking for His children to literally “take notice of the truth about Himself. This is a very important point because a key element to worshipping God is learning about Him and the more we know about the Lord and understand His attributes, the more our heart capacity for worship is enlarged and the greater our depth of worship.

John 15:26 says “When the Counsellor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.” Then in John 16:13-14 we read “13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. If we know that Jesus is the Truth and that in Him is found all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, then we are quite in our right to say that the more we get to know Him, the truth about Him will set us free to worship in a greater way.

Tozer defines an attribute of God as ‘whatever God has revealed as being true of Himself’- such things as His love, His sovereignty, His wisdom, His glory, His patience, His grace etc. In other words, worship is specifically accomplished when those that know God (understand His true character), take notice of all that is true about Him.

When we worship God in truth, we take faith in His unchanging Word. We allow the Word to take root in our lives and this will produce the fruit of worship. A further element of worshipping God in truth is being honest and truthful ourselves. In other words, bringing worship that comes from a genuine heart of love towards God. Not coming before God with any masks, but being real and transparent before Him and His people.

Not just putting on pretence, but being an example to others of a person passionately in love with God. God is looking for the sincere and genuine worship that comes from our knowledge of His holiness and purity, and from our own heart, pure and open before Him. Truth is discovered only by those who abandon worldly moral compasses and chart a course by the Word of God. Only those willing to do God's will can know it, and only those who do God's will discover it.

We must set our course in life by the compass of God's Word and ignore the advice and wisdom of mere men. Because Jesus is truth and the only answer for this world, we must be at any time ready to give an answer of the hope that we have in Christ - 15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. We must do it with gentleness. It should never be just to create an argument.

Prayer

Lord, help me understand and live truth. I want to know You more and more because you are the Truth. Help me to live my life with integrity and without any sign of pretence.

Rod Best