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FROM THE PASTOR'S STUDY

Topic: The Foundations of Truth

Some Effort Required!

by Darrel Cline
(darrelcline biblical-thinking.org)

Where shall we find the voice of Truth in the midst of the siren voices of the Liar? After all, there have always been multiplied voices calling for us to believe them. Where do we find the voice of the Truth?

In another article (165) I suggested that we could find the voice of the Truth if we really wanted to. I would like to expand on that. Really wanting to know the Truth means at least two things: 1) It means that we are willing to expend some effort; and 2) It means that we are not going to put any preconditions on Truth.

Let's consider these two issues. First, let's consider what it means to expend some effort. In every field of study, except religion, people freely acknowledge the need to learn the principles that govern the discipline in which they wish to become capable. No one expects to become a capable doctor without studying medicine. No one expects to become a mechanic without studying machines. No one expects to become anything by osmosis.

Now, granted, some people have a greater feel or knack for their field of interest than others. For example, if a person has a mechanical aptitude, learning about machines will be significantly easier than otherwise. If a person has a linguistic aptitude, learning languages is easier for them than for others. But, even with an aptitude, people still have to put themselves through their paces in order to master the discipline. When I was a young teen, I manifested a pronounced mechanical aptitude that enabled me to work on machines almost intuitively. But I made a lot of mistakes in the process. In high school I took an auto mechanics course and easily learned how to work on cars. I had an aptitude, but I still had to learn the principles. The aptitude simply made the task easier.

But, interestingly, when it comes to the most important issue in the universe--whether I will spend eternity in heaven or in hell--most people believe all kinds of things and never put any effort into finding out whether the stuff they believe is true or not. This is not wise. Knowing God is far more important than knowing medicine, yet people will spend years learning medical information and never spend any effort trying to find out the truth about God. In fact, many people gloat if they have a preacher who talks for only 5 minutes once a week, and they gripe if he talks on and on more than once a week.

Why are people this way? Because they really don't want to know the truth, they just want to think they already know it. That way it is easier to live with the awesome reality that Eternity is, and Heaven and Hell are real.

Second, to really want to know the Truth means that we will not put any preconditions on Him. Either we want to know God or not; and if we do we will have to take Him like He is. The Truth is the Truth. It doesn't matter whether we like it or not. We cannot create Truth by wishing.

Do you really want to know the Truth? It shows in whether you are spending any effort in seeking it, and whether you have set all kinds of conditions upon what you find.


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This is article #166.
If you wish, you may contact Darrel as darrelcline at this site.