Day 23

The Joy of Sunday Morning: Part 2

Truth

We are constantly surrounded by lies. This might sound melodramatic, but it’s true. We are so used to it that we automatically adjust the input we receive without even realizing it. Think about it. The news we see on television or hear on the radio or read in the paper comes from a source that has a particular point of view. Sometimes they will skew or omit facts purposefully, and sometimes without realizing it. We see advertisements that promise us happiness or love or fulfillment if we buy their product. We hear politicians promise us utopia if we vote for them. We eat “health” products that fill our bodies with chemicals. For every good deal that we find we have to scour the fine print for the catch. Business agreements need to be conducted with pages of conditions and with lawyers present. Photographs are altered and passed off as legitimate. Even the weatherman confidently tells us what to expect from nature, only to be proved wrong repeatedly. We know these things. We have accepted them as part of the society in which we live. We know that we must take the things we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell with a grain of salt.

But one of the joys of Sunday morning is that we can go to church and hear the truth. God’s Word in the Bible is completely true. It is not twisted, exaggerated, altered, or conditional. When the pastor or worship leader reads Scripture, we can have absolute confidence that we are hearing completely unadulterated truth. There is a caveat even hear, though. Although we have confidence that the Bible is true, that does not mean that it is always clear. There are many things in the Bible that are difficult to understand and figure out. Assuming that your pastor is a holy- and God-fearing man, he will take the Scriptures and endeavor to search them to learn the truth and teach it to his congregation. However, your pastor is a human just like you and me, and he is probably not 100% correct on his understanding of everything in the Bible. This does not mean he is trying to deceive you, just that he is doing his best with the resources God has given him. We all have a responsibility to search the Word of God for ourselves and learn the truth that it contains. But the joyful news is that it IS truth. The gospel is true. The character of God is true. Our responsibility on how to live as Christians is true. The life of Christ is true.

Hearing the truth in every situation might not be easy, but when we hear the truth found in the Bible it should fill us with joy. May the Lord grant that it may be so.