In Search of Truth
When you are in search of truth, where do you look? Growing up in the Stone Age, I first turned to the clay tablets in my school library. I was not good at deciphering the cuneiform characters, so the tablets were often not of much help. Another good source was one of the two encyclopedia sets commonly in use back then, either World Book Encyclopedia or Encyclopedia Britannica. World Book is still in existence today. Believe it or not, newspapers and television news shows were once more about the reporting of facts than they were about espousing opinions. I am told that these days there is something called the Internet, and that if I find information on the Internet, consider it to be true.
In all seriousness, there are many places to look to find what is true and what is false, what is fact and what is fiction. But, sadly, in the current climate in which we live, it is becoming increasingly difficult to know what is true and what is false, what is fact and what is fiction. As society becomes more “enlightened”, we seem to be slipping further and further away from defining and understanding truth. Not a day goes by when someone doesn’t say, “it might be true for you, but for me, not so true,” or some variation thereof.
I am sure you have heard, maybe even said: “You have your truth and I have mine.” However, when something is true, it is always true, no matter how you or I feel about it. In that statement, if we substitute “opinion” for “truth,” then yes, we all can, and should, have our own opinion on certain things. But that might not necessarily make it true. What is true does not change based upon my understanding of it. I cannot create my own reality, one that best suits me. In contrast to the fallacy of relative truth, absolute truth does not change, it shows no favoritism, and it will prevail in the end.
I think you will agree, real and absolute truth is harder and harder to find these days. Truth is not something we invent. It is something we discover. God reveals truth to us, in and through His Word. God’s Word helps us find real and absolute truth. Scripture does not help us grasp that two plus two is always equal to four, but it does help us navigate life and live according to the truths set forth by God.
We tend to seek truth in a myriad of places and ways, but ultimately, truth, absolute truth, all truth, is found in the Word of God (Psalm 119:160), in person of Jesus Christ (John 1:17), in being guided by the Holy Spirit (John 14:26, 16:13).
There is freedom in knowing real truth. That truth will set you and me free. Jesus, in addressing Jews who believed in him, said this – “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31b-32).
Allen Dulles, to date the longest serving Director of the CIA, and who was instrumental in the construction of the agency’s Original Headquarters Building (OHB) insisted on having that verse etched in stone in the building’s lobby. Is it etched in your heart?
Where do you look when in search of the truth? It will set you free.
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