Who may worship
in your sanctuary, Lord? . . . Those . . . who keep their promises even when it
hurts (NLT, Psalm 15:4).
Ever heard one of
these? Hey, I was just going to call you! Or, I’ll
feed it and take care of it – you’ll never even know we have a dog! Or, We’ll
play catch tomorrow. Or, No, that dress
doesn’t make you look fat. Or, We’ll do lunch.
Would you believe it
if someone said any of these things to you? Have you ever made one of these
promises and not really meant it? Paul wrote: I do not understand
what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do (Romans 7:14).
We say things like, Cross
my heart and hope to die. Or, On the eyes of my sainted mother. Do those words make us more likely to tell
the truth? [1]. John Stott writes: “Swearing is really a pathetic confession of
our own dishonesty” [2]. The reason we have to swear oaths is our tendency to
lie.
We shouldn’t need to
sign our name, pinky swear or provide collateral. Our lives should be enough to
make people confident that what they hear from us is the truth.
The NIV contains the
words unfaithful, faithless, or some version of not faithful 68 times, always referring to humanity – never to God. Isn’t it good
to know that God keeps his promises? The Lord is faithful to all his
promises and loving toward all he has made (Psalm 145:13).
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Can you commit to always
tell the truth? If not, why? Ask God why you might find it difficult to be
truthful.
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