The Belt of Truth!

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” – Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV

We often lie for benefits of others or us. Our instinct for lying to benefit us comes when we eager to gain something but we have no way of getting it except using falsehood. Another kind of lies are for the good purposes and these are known as “white lies.” Although something is not according to the truth, we tend to use these, to comfort people. White lies are “win and win situations,” so I think these are popular. However, I wonder whether there are less Pinocchios in the world. Pinocchio is a cartoon character who is a wooden puppet but wishes to be a real boy. The nose becomes longer each time Pinocchio lies.

There are several stories in the Bible, where the characters lied such as Exodus 1:15-21 and Joshua 2:1-21. They lied because of the fear of the Lord. Exodus 1:15-21 is about the king of the Egypt commanding midwives to kill childbirth baby boys. Joshua 2:1-21 is about a prostitute lying to the King of Jericho for the sake of the two spies who were men of God.  Other than being in the fear of the Lord, the followers of Jesus probably should not lie. When we read John 14:6, we realise that Jesus Christ is the source of the truth. The word ‘follower’ is a person who follows someone, wherever they go but it also means a person who takes same footsteps of someone. Since God does not lie (Numbers 23:19; Hebrews 6:18), Jesus Christ is the perfect image of God (Colossians 1:15) and we have been created to be the image of God (Genesis 1:27), we should walk and do everything according to the truth. Apostle Paul was speaking to Ephesians that when they learnt about Jesus Christ, they were taught to put on true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:20-24). In regarding to the topic of this devotional “Got Questions Ministries” has put it in this way:

The eternal God is holy (Isaiah 6:3). His holiness makes it impossible for Him to lie, for by “holy” is meant that God is absolute, transcendent purity. He does not conform to the standard; He is the standard. As Tozer has said, “He is absolutely holy with an infinite, incomprehensible fullness of purity that is incapable of being other than it is” (The Knowledge of the Holy, p. 105). Since God is holy, all His other characteristics or attributes are also holy. Thus, when God speaks, He will not and cannot lie. He never deceives; neither does He distort or misrepresent what He says or does. Lying is against His nature.

Meditate on John 3:19-21 and ask yourself these questions: “Am I fearing God? Am I walking and doing everything according to the truth?”