Originally published on April 16, 2020
TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE
Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:31-32
Lets face it, most of us are not satisfied with the TRUTH, we want ANSWERS. We believe that answers will set us free. It’s the same old trick that the devil played on Adam and Eve, “Did God actually say…?” (Gen 3:1). We’ve all been there, and some of us are there now. When will this end? Why did this happen to me? Where is God in this? What if this or that happens? You might notice the focal point here…this. Sure, we might be “looking to God” when we voice these requests, but we aren’t focusing on Him, we are focusing on “this”. That’s because we really want answers, not truth, but we don’t need answers, we need truth (Psalm 119:160; John 1:14, 14:6, 17:17,19).
Two examples in Scripture came to mind as I began to prepare this devotional. First, Job expressed some of the “why” questions we have (Job 3:11,16,20; 7:20; 10:2,18; 13:24; 21:4) when his life was torn apart. God never gave answers, but He gave some of the greatest truths in scripture about His sovereign authority and control by asking a series of His own questions (Job 38-41). I encourage you to take some time to read these chapters and worship God for who He is and all that He governs. Second, some of Jesus’ followers asked Him why Pilate had killed certain Galileans and why a tower fell and killed 18 people in Siloam (Luke 13:1-5)? Jesus did not give answers, he gave truth. He said that the suffering of some was not because they were worse sinners than others but that we all deserve to perish and will ultimately perish, unless we repent and believe. We know this to be true from Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, but it wasn’t the answer they, or we, were seeking. I encourage you to take some time to read Luke 11-12, for specific truth that Jesus had just given to those whom He later told to repent (Luke 13:3,5). It is from these chapters that we are told: to ask, seek and knock (11:10), that God is a good father (11:11-13), that we are blessed when we hear God’s word and KEEP it (11:28), not to put our light under a basket (11:33), that we must clean the inside of our cup (11:38-41), who to fear and who not to fear (12:4-5), the worth of sparrows and how our hairs are numbered (12:6-7), of God’s care for birds and lilies as a reason to not spend our lives anxious about our basic necessities (12:22-31), how our treasure is connected to our heart (12:15-21, 32-34), and to whom much is given, much will be required (12:35-48). These chapters are FILLED with nuggets of truth for the weary soul in times such as now.
While answers are not what we need, its often the times when we are looking for answers that the Truth we find becomes our Rock (Psalm 18). My friend didn’t hold to Matt 8:26-27, like he does since he had the Vermillion River in his home. Another friend learned to cherish the words of Luke 12:22-31, during the years that he didn’t have a job. My wife didn’t treasure truth in worship songs and I wasn’t able to see God’s work FOR and then IN me (Eph 2:1-10) until we miscarried our third child. During our time apart, while the flood of questions begging for answers tries to drag you under, abide in the Word, looking for Truth to set you free and it will be the Rock to climb upon for safety.
Kirt Boudreau
