Truth

Embedding the Bible is about learning to live in the will of God. Embedding is the act of placing God’s will in the center of my life. Not just in the center of my religious activity, but in the center of everything that I do and say. Living in the will of God means that God’s heart sets the standard for how I parent, watch television, surf the web, read books, talk to my friends, and act on my job. God’s heart defines my work ethic, parenting decisions, friendships, and relaxation. As God calls us deeper and deeper into His presence, we experience transformation, a change in how we think and act and feel. This change is based on the character of God.

Embedding the character of God in our lives leads us to look for truth. God establishes His truth through His character. In John 14:6 we learn that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Truth is not simply an objective standard. It is not the ability to agree with or conform to a principle. Truth is not simply about mental assent. Truth is a person, the person of Jesus. Following truth means following Jesus. There is no other way to live in the presence of God but to live in the truth of Jesus.

Sometimes in reading through the Old Testament, we forget that we are reading through the story of Jesus. We often look at the Israelites and the call to follow the law and miss the point that God is preparing the world for the coming of the Christ. Each law, each feast day, each command is meant to shape the hearts of men to accept the truth that is found in the character and life of Jesus.

This week, we open our reading with Deuteronomy 12:29 and a warning against idolatry. Idolatry is the worship of anything that is not God. Idolatry takes something other than God and puts it into God’s rightful place in our lives. Idolatry can be an image made of wood or stone or metal that we bow before. It can also be a belief or a tenet that the world holds up as more important. Remember that idolatry does not always mean that we completely forget about God. The Israelites continued, in their history, to worship in the temple at Jerusalem. They offered the appropriate sacrifices and observed the feast days established by God. But they also worshiped idols under trees, sought to be like the world around them, and accepted standards and “truths” that could no be found in the will of God. They mixed the standards of the world with the truth of God and so divided their hearts. This is so easy to do in our world today.

We have many voices which call for our attention. Voices that tell us how to be successful. Voices that seek to define beauty and truth. Voices that call us to believe what the world believes. Too often, we want to accept the voices of the world and then try to figure out how they can exist alongside the truth of God. We try to mix what the world says with what God says. We try to give both an equal voice in our lives. But God does not call us to see him through the lens of the world. He calls us to see the world through the lens of His character. Following truth puts God in the center of our lives so that we everything through the eyes of God.

Embedding eh Bible is about becoming so intimate with God that we cannot see the world through any lens but the lens of His heart. Like the Israelites, we need to learn to look at everything the world throws our way and ask if it conforms to the image of God, the person of Jesus, our standard of truth.

Moses warns the people that there will be those who call God’s people to follow after other gods. People who present a standard to follow that is not from God. The warning is that this kind of thinking leads to death and separation from the will of God.

Where is your thinking leading you? Are you walking in truth? Or are you listening to too many voices? Embedding the Bible helps us recognize the voice of God and live in truth.