"Whatever is true for you is OK."
"Are you telling the truth?"
"Truth or dare?"
Is truth relative? Are there many "truths"?
The definition of truth is, according to dictionary.com: the true or actual state of a matter; conformity with fact or reality; verity: the truth of a statement; a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle or the like: mathematical truths; the state or character of being true; actuality or actual existence.
Here's what else: Jesus said that He was the truth. In fact, He said this:
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (NIV)
Jesus is the Truth. If Jesus is your plumb line, your measuring stick, your GPS, then it would probably be a good idea to run everything by Him.
Pray to Him. Ask God for direction, protection and knowledge of His will for you and the power to carry it out.
Check His word. The Bible. What does it say about your situation? Does your "truth" line up with the Truth?
Truth isn't relative. Jesus dealt in the truth--you can see it all over scripture. There was a time, for example, when He ran into this woman at the well. Picture in modern times--6 inch stiletto heels, too much makeup, bleached blond hair with three-inch roots, chomping her chewing gum too loud, hoisting a couple of 5 gallon buckets up to the well. When He asked her for a drink, she was shocked. Why would a man like him, a Jewish rabbi, speak to a foreigner with a questionable past like her?
Here's my paraphrase of what the conversation might have been like, based on John Chapter 4 in the Bible:
"Hi friend, I'm thirsty, might I have some water?" Jesus spoke gently in the hot sun.
"You've got to be kidding!! You're a Jew and I'm a Samaritan. How can you stoop so low as to ask me for a drink," said the Samaritan woman, ipod so loud that you could hear P.O.D. through the ear buds, trying not to expose too much as she knelt to hoist a bucket into the well.
"If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is asking you for a frosty beverage, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
"Sir, I do not see a 32oz. super-sized cup in your backpack and this well is mighty deep. Where can you get the hookup on this living water? Are you saying you've got it going on better than our father, Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?"
Jesus answered, "You might fill your cup with a ton of this well water, but like all your buddies, you'll be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. The water I give them will become in them a gushing spring of water that will give them eternal life, man."
The woman, who's makeup was starting to run said, "Rabbi, fill up my boda bag with this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming up here to this dirt hole ever again!"
Jesus said, "Lady, go get your husband and then come back."
The woman blushed beneath her inch-thick foundation. "I have no husband."
"Yeah, you've had five husbands, and the man that you're living with right now isn't your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough." Jesus said kindly.
"Oh, so you're a prophet!! Well give me the lowdown on this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?"
"Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship in a clueless kind of way; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God's way of salvation (through me) is made available through the Jews. But I've got some killer news for you--the time will come when it doesn't matter what you're called or where you go to worship. In fact, the time is now. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in the truth."
So Jesus is the truth and He knows the truth.
This woman goes on to say, "I know that the Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
You can imagine the look on her face when Jesus looks at her straight in the eye and says, "I, the one speaking to you--I AM He."
How cool is it that this gentle Rabbi aka THE MESSIAH chose to speak to a woman who was so ashamed of herself that she came to get water when she was sure that no one else would be around?
Not only that, but He chose to reveal the Truth to her, of all people.
He offered this woman a real solution to her problems, embarrassment, shame and hopelessness--faith in Jesus Christ. This is such good news if you feel worthless because you're a child of divorce, or you're a different race than the majority of people around you, or you've got a parent in prison or maybe you've made some poor choices in the past. This story demonstrates how much Jesus loves us all, no matter what our background.
Just come to Him, just as you are, and ask for forgiveness for your past, and say out loud that you believe that Jesus is Lord and that you want to receive the gift of salvation.
If you've said that prayer for the first time, please find a Christ-centered church, starting praying daily, read your Bible, and get involved with Christian fellowship. If you're in a remote place without access to fellowship, please visit www.teenhopeline.com or www.billygraham.org. Your life is about to change for the better. Watch and see and get ready for whatever God wants to do in your life. I'd love to hear your story!!
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