Hunger for Truth

By:  Dale Weckbacher

John 8:31-32

 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

(ESV)

Today is April Fools day, a day when fake news is expected.  However, during the other 364 days of the year, the expectation is for a truthful presentation of news.  Unfortunately, however this is not the case for fake news is prevalent in our media worldwide. 

Besides guarding the President of the United States, one of the duties of the Secret Service of the United States is preventing the counterfeiting of US currency.  (1)  Fortunately, their efforts have largely been successful for when the Secret Service was established in 1865 up to half of the U.S. money supply was fake whereas now only about $200 million of the $500 billion dollars in circulation are believed to be fake.  (1)  What is interesting, however, is how agents are taught to detect fake currency. 

One would think those given the task of detecting counterfeit money would spend hours studying counterfeit money in order to recognize it.  However, agents are not taught to detect counterfeit money but instead to recognize genuine currency.  (2)  Learning to discern truth from fiction is crucial and best accomplished when one masters knowledge of the truth. 

This is the truth Jesus was attempting to teach the Jews that had come to believe in Him (John 8:31-32) and something all of us that have chosen to make Jesus Lord of our lives should follow.  We therefore must develop a hunger for God’s Word, the Bible in order avoid religious deception.  We also must develop a hunger for gathering the facts of the political issues of our time in order to discern political commentary not grounded in facts from truth.

The digital age has made it easy for us all to access massive information.  With our smart phones, tablets, and computers a world of information is open to us.  Unfortunately, much of this information is fake for anyone, including a blogger like myself, can publish something on the web.  Therefore, with each one of my blog posts I include links to articles used for research along with links to biblical references used as an aide to discernment of truth. 

The psalmist of Psalm 42 equates a hunger for the truth of God and His Word to that of the thirst a deer has for the refreshing water of a flowing stream.  Likewise, we as Children of God must develop a hunger and thirst for the truth of God’s Word by,

1)      Getting to know the author (John 14:14) – God wants his children to know the truth of His Word and even took the extraordinary step of taking on fleshly form and dwelling with us.  In addition, Jesus made the bold statement that he is the truth (John 14:6).  Therefore, since Jesus is God in the flesh and since He is the truth, the first logical step in becoming familiar with truth is to know the author of truth, Jesus Christ.  This is not difficult for all it requires is believing (John 3:16) because all the work of our salvation was done by Jesus on the cross (Ephesians 2:8). 

2)      Learning and studying the Bible written by the author of truth (Luke 24:13-35) – On the road to Emmaus, Jesus, after His resurrection encountered two men.  Jesus began walking with these men but kept his identity secret from them (Luke24:15-16).  After playing dumb and not knowing about His own crucifixion and reports of His resurrection, Jesus began to interpret all Scriptures regarding Himself.  After breaking bread with them, Jesus allowed their eyes to be opened (Luke 24:30-31) and vanished from their sight.  After vanishing, the two men realized that their hearts burned within them as Jesus revealed the truths about himself as revealed in Scripture.  While today we do not have Jesus physically walking with us, Jesus did send us his Holy Spirit who takes up residence in our hearts and reveals the truths of God’s Word to us (John 14:15-17). 

3)      Associating with fellow seekers of truth (Hebrews10:25) – One of the downfalls of the social media age is people can communicate without needing to meet face-to-face.  While this is beneficial when distance or the inability of one to get out prohibits a face-to-face meeting, it should not replace regularly meeting in person whenever possible.  When we as God’s people gather together face-to-face, we are gathering together as people with a common hunger and thirst for the truth of God’s Word.  Just as iron sharpens iron, this sharpens our knowledge and desire to become familiar with truth (Proverbs 27:17) making is easier to discern deception. 

We as God’s people must constantly be on guard against fake and deceptive teaching.  The best way to accomplish this is by familiarizing ourselves with truth by getting to know the author of truth, Jesus Christ, studying the Bible through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and regular association with fellow truth seekers.  In this way, we can experience the liberating power of truth and avoid fakery and deception. 

1. Lovgren, Stefan. news.nationalgeographic.com. U.S. Secret Service's Other Job: Fighting Fake Money. [Online] National Geographic News, October 22, 2004. [Cited: March 25, 2017.] http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1022_041022_tv_secret_service.html.

2. Challies, Timn. Counterfeit Detection (Part 1). www.challies.com. [Online] Challies Blog, June 27, 2006. [Cited: March 25, 2017.] http://www.challies.com/articles/counterfeit-detection-part-1.