To tell the truth…….

 

If there was one thing that my Dad couldn’t bear, it was a liar. Consequently, as children, we were taught that we should always tell the truth.

Speaking of someone who he didn’t see as honest he would say, “he’s so far removed from the truth, that he believes his own lies!”

How deeply entrenched in dishonesty would we be if we believed our own lies? That is hard to imagine isn’t it? I remember a teacher at secondary school warning us against cheating in exams; we all knew that it was wrong, but he said something that I have always remembered, “You might fool everyone else; teachers, the exam invigilators and those who mark the papers, but you will never fool yourself.”

How true that is, the certificate that hangs on the wall proclaiming our achievement may well impress those who see it, but we would always know inside that it’s a false claim, it wasn’t achieved by our own efforts. We could never believe our own lies and so could never enjoy the satisfaction of seeing the result of our own work.

 

So, I wonder how honest are we with God, do we try to portray ourselves, before Him, as being someone who we’re not; someone that we feel we ought to be? Is that one of those uncomfortable questions that we’d rather not answer? 

In mitigation we might say that if we’re not totally honest with God it’s because we want to please Him; for Him to see us at our best, with the rough edges knocked off - much the same as the reason for cheating in an exam, to show our best performance to those who are “judging” us.

 

There is, however, something important that we forget here; we can’t fool ourselves, neither can we fool God. we need to remember the three “Omnis” of God - Omnipotent; all powerful - Omnipresent; everywhere and applying here, Omniscient; all knowing. God knows everything about us, every little thing.

He knows that you didn’t read your devotional on Tuesday (even though you moved the bookmark as if you had!) He knows that you had a crib sheet up your sleeve in your Maths O level back in the 1970s, and he even knows about the fag you smoked behind the bike shed before that exam - you thought that you’d got away with that didn’t you?

 

We should be so grateful that we have a most gracious God; if we read our Bible we are told so:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1: 9

If we are honest and confess our sins before Him, He forgives us. That isn’t a reason to keep on doing wrong because we will be forgiven, but we know that when we do wrong and hold our hands up to it, He will forgive us.

But let’s also read the next verse:

“If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” {v10}

He knows everything so trying to hide is futile, moreover, since He is faithful and just to forgive us, what is to be gained by trying to hide anything?

 

Whatever happens we will never “believe our own lies” as my Dad put it, nor will Our Father in Heaven believe them, so there is only one way to go;

“Be sure your sin will find you out.” Numbers 32: 23

 

By the way, that fag behind the bike shed; He saw you leave the dog end on the floor too!!

 

May God bless you.

 

s2s.