Truth

But he that would use faithfully the talent of truth must never trade with borrowed capital;

the truth that has not first been made his own will bear no interest when lent to others.

from CRUSHED BUT CONQUERING:  A STORY OF CONSTANCE AND BOHEMIA

by Deborah Alcock

Gentle Reader,

As much as it is within me as a weak human, I love truth.  That is not to say that I've never lied.  I have.  More than once.  I'm not proud of that and have repented of it.  But my heart's desire is to "have truth in the inward parts."  I think of  John's statement:  "I have no greater joy than that my children walk in truth."  I hope he would be delighted in my walk.

I love truth.  And I expect everyone who names the name of Christ to love truth.  Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life...."  If we love Him then we ought to love truth, for it is intrinsic to His nature.  There are few things more frustrating to me than trying to share truth with someone who claims to be a believer, and they just don't seem to get it.  Yes, I'm impatient.  Perhaps they're just not as far along the path as I am.  Forgive me, Lord.  "Patience, Hester."  I have to remember that I myself have not always been a truth-lover.

What is truth?

Some would answer, "Truth is found in the Scriptures."  Or, "Jesus is Truth."  I would wholeheartedly agree.  For me, these are simply "givens."  We spend a lot of time at our house talking about the Scriptures and how they apply to our daily lives.  How ought we to react in this situation?  What should we say in return to the comment of another?  How should we steward our time and resources?  What if someone is unkind to us?  How do we reach the lost?  What does worship look like?  These are all important spiritual topics.

But is truth limited to the Scriptures?  Would you think outside the box with me for a few moments?

Could you honestly categorize Velveeta cheese as truth - something that has been processed to the point it has forgotten that it's food?  Would you categorize synthetic fabric as truth - something that has been manufactured and is toxic next to the skin?  What about baby formula?  God's design is that babies be nourished at their mothers' breasts.  (Please don't sent hate-mail.  I realize that not every mom is able to breastfeed.  But formula would be the last thing I'd choose as an alternative.  In fact, we faced that problem with the last of our six children.   When after two weeks of nursing and he was almost "failure to thrive,"  we

fed him goat's milk, which is very similar to human milk.)
Now here's one that will make me unpopular with the masses:  What about pharmaceuticals (aka over-the-counter or prescriptions drugs)?  God gave us the herbs of the field for nourishment and  healing of our bodies.  Nobody ever got sick because of a deficiency of Coumadin or Benadryl or synthetic steroids.  But most of us are sick because of nutritional deficiencies, which has to do with the food we eat.  That's where the herbs of the field come in.  If we're sick because we haven't been eating them, then it makes sense we can improve our health by eating them.  But we still have to be careful - even the most basic, non-processed food we eat can make us sick.  For instance, a lot of store bought produce is sprayed repeatedly with chemicals to prevent insect infestations and to enhance growth.  These are toxic to our bodies.   Because of poor farming practices, the soil has been depleted and thus the produce grown on it is deficient in important nutrients. Organically grown produce, especially fruits and vegetables you grow yourself, are the best source of nutrition.

Now this is not a treatise on health foods.  (Perhaps I'll do a separate article on that topic, since it is one of great interest to me.)  My point is this:  Are we walking in truth when we put chemicals into our bodies to try to heal them when God designed them to be healed naturally?  Are we walking in truth when we feed our babies formula if we are able to nurse them?  Are we walking in truth when we spray toxic chemicals on our yards and gardens?   Are we walking in truth when we eat, ugh, Velveeta?  I'm giving examples that come immediately to mind.  I could name several other areas for us to consider, but I think you get  my drift.

Organically grown produce is truth.  Velveeta is not.  Herbs are truth.  Drugs are not.  Mom's milk (and goat's milk, if necessary) are truth.   Formula is not.  Cotton and wool and linen are truth.  Polyester and Spandex are not.  Compost and cow manure are truth.  Chemical fertilizers are not.  Hot pepper and garlic spray are truth.  Raid is not.  And so on and so forth.
I don't want to be legalistic.  These are not matters of salvation.  You're not going to hell if you feed your baby formula, or eat, ugh, Velveeta, or spray your weeds with Roundup.  (However, there might be other unpleasant - perhaps even dire -  temporal consequences.)

But if we are to walk in truth, I think we need to examine every aspect of our lives to see if perhaps we are practicing some form of falsehood.  Of course, it wouldn't be good to spend a lot of time on the little things to the neglect of the larger spiritual issues.  But perhaps what we think are little things are truly bigger than we might have formerly realized.

What is truth?  He is Jesus Christ.  Truth is found in the Word of God, which is to be the rule and standard for every Christian.  And truth is also found in the world around us, the world that the Truth created.

Yours for truth in every aspect of our lives,
Hester