As I write this devotion, the following topics are trending on Twitter; #GalaxyS6, #voteonedirection, #kca. If you’re not on Twitter this might look like code, so here is the easiest way to explain it: these are topics Twitter users are tweeting right now. “Trending” topics change as often as people get tired of talking about them—by the minute. It seems that the “truth” we hear from sources around us changes nearly as often. Think about it, one health study comes out saying a food or activity is bad for you, then another comes out claiming to disprove those results. Wikipedia allows its users to even edit truth. How is it possible to “edit” truth? It’s often hard to determine what is actually true when truth seems to be trending daily.
1. DIGGING IN (God, Show Me!)
In the face of what can seem to be ever changing “truth” there is an eternal truth that is communicated in God’s Word. This is a truth older than the universe itself, more solid than any scientific study, that has been proven over and over again throughout the course of human history. It’s a truth that we can build our lives on. Read the following verses about Truth that we find in God’s Word. As you read use the following hashtags to describe what the verse reveals about God’s truth—note this in the space around the verse or in an e-doc:
#reliable
#timeless
#unchanging
#goodnews
(feel free to add your own hashtags as you see fit).
Psalm 119:151-152
151 Yet you are near, Lord, and all your commands are true. 152 Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever.
Psalm 119:160
160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.
John 17:17
17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
Hebrews 4:12-13
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
James 1:17-18
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
2. TAKING IT INWARD (God, Teach me!)
Take a minute to look at your hashtag descriptions of God’s truth. Write a sentence or two that describes what God’s truth is and does. Then journal your thoughts to the questions below.
How do I respond when God’s truth conflicts with something that others have accepted to be true?
Do I trust that God’s Word is truth even when I struggle to understand or obey it?
What are some ways that God’s Word has proven itself to be truth in my life?
3. SEAL THE DEAL (God, Change Me!)
The trouble with truth is that it isn’t subject to the trends of what is popular. In fact, sometimes truth isn’t popular at all, but it doesn’t cease for that reason to be truth. Despite centuries of changing culture, values, and opinions, God’s Word has persevered as THE source of truth. In fact over time many have sought to prove the Bible wrong but have never come close to discrediting the truth found in its pages. The apostle Paul wrote a letter to a young church leader named Timothy who was dealing with “false teaching” issues in his church. In his letter of encouragement to Timothy, Paul gave some wise counsel about Timothy’s most needed and effective tool, God’s Word.
2 Timothy 3:14-17
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
God’s word is the one constant truth in our lives that we can rely on. As a new believer in Christ, learning what God’s Word says and applying it to your life will result in a foundation for living that “trending truth” won’t be able to shake.