Jesus is my truth

"You are a king, then!" said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

John 18:37

Truth is something we all search for. Some people devote their whole lives trying to come up with the answers to life. A few summers ago I took a philosophy course at JHU during the summer and we learned about a lot of philosophers; old school guys like Socrates and Confucius, and newer ones like Bateson and Dewey...anyways. These guys spent their years coming up with a whole bunch of theories on a variety of topics. Point is, people want the truth about everything. About creation. About mankind's existence. About love, hatred, happiness...the list goes on and on.

Guys, realize that truth can be found at the cross. Truth is Jesus. He is the only one that satisfies that inner desire to know something is pure and can withstand time and all else. If we turn to the cross we can find the truth that will illuminate our lives with His light...only the love of God is capable of moving us in such a way.

The other day I saw this poster that said, "Why believe in a god? Just be good, for goodness' sake!"

For me I guess that was how I viewed life before I came to Christ, trying to be good and obedient to my parents and all that. We're raised to be the "bigger person", to overcome our troubles just for the sake of being good and moral human beings. As well intended as these teachings are, they aren't realistic at all. Despite your good intentions, how many times have you lied? How many times have you experienced anger, frustration, even hatred towards others? The mantra of being good just for the sake of goodness has no lasting motivation because we are depending on ourselves. The only way we'd be successful through depending on ourselves is if we were inherently good anyways, and there wouldn't be any problems then.

This is why the cross is truth-it acknowledges our sinful nature, instead of treating it as something that can go away by itself through sheer human willpower. Scripture acknowledges that man is imperfect, that temptation is always near. Even Christians do not walk perfectly straight paths--we all have our down times and fall victim to the things of this world. The cross offers us truth because it says that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins now and forever, and through the love and sheer willpower of God we can live lives based on light and truth.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.