“What is truth?” John recorded that Pontius Pilate asked Jesus that question before the Crucifixion.
Today we read John’s words complement Gaius for walking in the truth.
In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
What does it mean to walk in the truth?
Obviously to some degree we are talking about something as simple as not lying. We are taught in the commandments to not “bear false witness against your neighbor.” In other words, don’t lie about others. Jesus tells us that the devil is a liar, and when he lies he speaks his native language. For us to lie is to align ourselves with the devil in our thoughts and words – something we renounced in our baptism! This is, of course, our central problem; that our sinful nature continually seeks to return to living according to the patterns of this world and the devil. Jesus calls us to let our yes be yes and our no be no, and God’s Word also teaches that we should speak the truth in love.
Walking in the truth, though, is more than just not lying. It’s our entire way of life in Christ. It is living in Jesus’ forgiveness, being made true in Him.
Have you ever seen a chef honing his knife on a steel? Sometimes they make quite a show of it. I always used to thing they were sharpening that knife. They’re not. The knife is already sharp. However, because its edge is so perilously thin, that cutting area can get bent and out of line. Knife sharpeners call this being out of, “true.” There is a straight, true line that when that edge follows it allows the cutter to have the sharpest possible blade.
When we sin, we come out of true. We need to be brought back in line with God’s will for us. Although Jesus’ cross was made of wood, it serves as the steel that puts us back in true so that we can be in line with God.
To walk in the truth means that first we live in Jesus’ life transforming forgiveness. We are brought back in line with our Father. Now, because we have been realigned with God in Jesus, we seek to live our lives in alignment with his will. For Gaius that meant welcoming missionaries and preachers of the Gospel, despite being opposed by Diotrephes, because he knew the message they were proclaiming was the message that had brought him into God’s love and forgiveness and he wanted others to hear of God’s love in giving His only Son for us.
For us today walking in the truth of Jesus’ forgiveness means living with integrity, loving others, showing hospitality to our brothers and sisters in Christ. It means clinging to the truth, even when the world reminds us we are out of line with them, because in the truth we are in line with Jesus. It means having a good testimony of what Jesus has done for us as we share Him with others. Living in the truth is living in Jesus.
Lord Jesus, make me true and let me live each day in You. Amen.
Today we read John’s words complement Gaius for walking in the truth.
In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
What does it mean to walk in the truth?
Obviously to some degree we are talking about something as simple as not lying. We are taught in the commandments to not “bear false witness against your neighbor.” In other words, don’t lie about others. Jesus tells us that the devil is a liar, and when he lies he speaks his native language. For us to lie is to align ourselves with the devil in our thoughts and words – something we renounced in our baptism! This is, of course, our central problem; that our sinful nature continually seeks to return to living according to the patterns of this world and the devil. Jesus calls us to let our yes be yes and our no be no, and God’s Word also teaches that we should speak the truth in love.
Walking in the truth, though, is more than just not lying. It’s our entire way of life in Christ. It is living in Jesus’ forgiveness, being made true in Him.
Have you ever seen a chef honing his knife on a steel? Sometimes they make quite a show of it. I always used to thing they were sharpening that knife. They’re not. The knife is already sharp. However, because its edge is so perilously thin, that cutting area can get bent and out of line. Knife sharpeners call this being out of, “true.” There is a straight, true line that when that edge follows it allows the cutter to have the sharpest possible blade.
When we sin, we come out of true. We need to be brought back in line with God’s will for us. Although Jesus’ cross was made of wood, it serves as the steel that puts us back in true so that we can be in line with God.
To walk in the truth means that first we live in Jesus’ life transforming forgiveness. We are brought back in line with our Father. Now, because we have been realigned with God in Jesus, we seek to live our lives in alignment with his will. For Gaius that meant welcoming missionaries and preachers of the Gospel, despite being opposed by Diotrephes, because he knew the message they were proclaiming was the message that had brought him into God’s love and forgiveness and he wanted others to hear of God’s love in giving His only Son for us.
For us today walking in the truth of Jesus’ forgiveness means living with integrity, loving others, showing hospitality to our brothers and sisters in Christ. It means clinging to the truth, even when the world reminds us we are out of line with them, because in the truth we are in line with Jesus. It means having a good testimony of what Jesus has done for us as we share Him with others. Living in the truth is living in Jesus.
Lord Jesus, make me true and let me live each day in You. Amen.
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