ONE MINUTE WITH GOD. WHAT WOULD YOU ASK?

Okay, let's talk in hypotheticals.  I'm going to provide you with an opportunity to spend one minute with God.  No more, no less.  And in that minute, you can ask him anything you want.  And he, in his infinite wisdom, will answer you.  What might you come up with? 

Think about it.  In all that's around us.  In everything that makes up this crazy, mixed-up world, there out to be something that lurks deep inside of you. 

As I've matured in my Christian walk, I continue to ask questions and look for answers, but there is one, perhaps more glaring than anything else,  that I'd say, "God, help me with this.....what is truth?"



A question we all need to learn how to handle.........

Jack Nicholson, in the movie, "A Few Good Men", offered the question many of us struggle with.  "The truth?  You can't handle the truth."  Jack makes a good point.  Most of us can't handle the truth.  Or so, we think we can't.  But.... 

Winston Churchill once stated, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”
     
Can anyone really know “the truth”? Or is truth subject to human interpretation?   Many today think truth is relative to the circumstances—that what is true for one situation is not necessarily true for others.  This means that truth for one person is not necessarily the same for everyone!  If this is correct, how can we know with certainty what to believe and how we should live?  Almost 2,000 years ago, a Roman governor asked a wrongly accused prisoner who stood before him, “What is truth?”  The Roman’s name was Pontius Pilate.  The prisoner was Jesus of Nazareth (John 18:37-38).

Jesus did not respond to Pilate’s question during this encounter.  At least we do not have a record of it if He did.  Apparently, Pilate walked away from the question that day and simply washed his hands of the ordeal.  At least he thought he did.  Christ did answer the question elsewhere.  The same writer, John, records it in a prayer of Jesus to His Father.

The night before His crucifixion, Jesus offered a heartfelt prayer to His Father on behalf of His disciples—not only those of that day, but also those who would follow Him in the future.  Within the context of that prayer, He said, “Sanctify [set apart] them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17, emphasis added throughout).

Here, Christ is saying one should be able to examine the pages of God’s Word—the Holy Bible—to learn the truth on any subject of major importance or significance. The Bible contains the answers to questions about why we were born, our purpose in life, whether God exists and the potential of mankind—to name only a few of the subjects covered within this Book.

The Psalmist wrote similarly: “The entirety of Your word is truth” (Psalm 119:160). Interestingly, the word “truth” can be found more than 200 times in Scripture. 

Many people believe that science can reveal truth.  But Kathy Sykes, a British physicist and professor at the University of Bristol, explains, “Science is not about truth, but is about trying to get closer to the truth. This is important, because, too often, people look to scientists as having the ‘truth.’ What we have is wrapped in uncertainties, caveats and simplifications.”  Then there is absolute truth.

There are those who do not believe in absolute truth.  Dictionary.com defines the word absolute as “free from imperfection; complete; perfect.” The word truth is defined as “the true or actual state of a matter …; conformity with fact or reality …; a verified or indisputable fact.”

Knowing the truth is wonderful, but it is not enough!  God expects us to act on the truth as He helps us learn it.  More important than knowing the truth is living the truth—walking in truth. Wisdom, knowledge, understanding and truth are all attributes of God.  You can know the truth if you diligently and prayerfully seek for it.

“Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge [truth] of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:3-6). This is the absolute truth.

I'd like to thank Harold Rhodes of Life, Hope and Truth for many of these thoughts and messages.  But, if the truth be known, those aren't necessarily his thoughts...but God's thoughts.  And that's the truth too.  So help me God.

Now, back to the hypothetical question.  What would you ask God?  It might be a good time to ponder that thought, because my hypothetical, might just become reality for you some day.  I hope you'll be ready.      

YGG,

John