Picking Truth Over Lies
“Forever, O LORD, your word is settled in the heavens.” Psalm 119:89 (ESV)
When I was a little girl, my mom had a basket of wax fruit. The fruit was so pretty, and although very real looking, we children knew that it was for decoration only. However, one summer, a visiting cousin sunk his teeth into an alluring wax apple leaving teeth marks as an enduring reminder of his visit. How was he to know? As the young son of a produce salesman, his world was filled with real fruit, not fake. He was not on the lookout for fake fruit!
We live in a world of ‘fake fruit’. Ever since Satan deceived Eve in the garden and took over as ruler of this present world system, he has been busy lying and deceiving. The result is that fallen mankind has “exchanged the truth of God for a lie and chosen to worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever.” (Romans 1).
We live in a chaotic world that’s saturated with lies. We face it every day: fake news vs. real news, lies vs. truth, counterfeit vs. authentic. Inside the church, there are heresies and false doctrine.
How do we as believers avoid biting into the ‘wax apple’?
Thankfully we have help! God has given us the truth of his Word. In John 17, we see that before Jesus went to the cross, he prayed for his followers, asking his Father to keep them from the Evil One. How? “Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.”
The psalmist proclaims in Psalm 119:89, “Forever O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.” Hebrews 13:8 reminds us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” His Word never changes because he never changes.
As we study the truth of God’s Word, we become equipped to live a discerning life. Hebrews 5:13 tells, “For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.” Ephesians 6 reminds us we are soldiers in a battle against the rulers, powers and world forces of darkness in the heavenly places. This sounds pretty serious, doesn’t it? So, how do we prepare?
First of all, we put on the full armor of God. Then, we take up our weapon, the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says, “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.” Every soldier needs to be trained to use his weapon and that starts by diligently studying the Word, so we can accurately use it (2 Timothy 3:16).
I encourage you to take every opportunity to learn the truth of God’s Word so you will be able to discern truth from error in this world of lies. Being set apart by the Word of truth will keep you from taking a bite out of the wax apple.
Let your heart echo the words of Jeremiah the prophet: “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15:16).
