A Sure Foundation

A few days ago I wrote about the importance of being on the side of truth. Feel free to read that article here: http://thoughtsfromdrt.blogspot.com/2014/06/on-side-of-truth.htmlz. I want to follow up on that article with a little more insight into the concept of truth.

Our culture has lied to itself and declared each person capable of creating their own version of truth. Supposedly, we can rely on our reasoning powers, our education, our feelings, and our interactions with those around us as authoritative sources of truth. While these sources of information can be quite helpful to us in certain situations, none of them are perfect. Sometimes our reasoning fails us, no matter how much we hate to admit it. Sometimes our education is insufficient, other times it is just plain wrong because the information is flawed. Our feelings are fleeting and make for a very poor source of enlightenment. Even our interactions with others can be flawed because people are not perfect and therefore cannot give us a perfect picture of truth. If we only get input from one type of person, we begin to think that the whole world thinks like that, when in reality, it may just be a portion of society. We need some source of truth outside ourselves that can guide us.

Fortunately, God is a source of such truth. The prophet Isaiah reminds us “thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: Whoever believes will not be in haste. And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies (Isaiah 28:16-17). God Himself has laid the cornerstone for human society. A society built upon a proper understanding of God will have a sure foundation and a precious cornerstone on which everything else can rest. God is the one who has decided what is ultimately right, which He calls righteousness. Though others may create convincing lies that say otherwise, there will come a day when all the lies will be swept away and only the truth of God will remain.

I believe our culture is rapidly approaching that day. The web of lies and self-deceit is now so convoluted that it will soon begin to collapse in on itself. We are far from being "more enlightened" than previous generations. Our marriages are falling apart. Our finances are in disarray. Our prisons are full and our churches are empty. Our attempts to build our culture on something other than a strong faith in God has utterly failed. It is time to try something different. I suggest something ancient, faith in the one true God of heaven. Instead of building our lives on fleeting emotion, ever shifting public opinion, or our own faulty reasoning skills, let us build it upon Him, who offers us a sure foundation to stand upon.

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett is a church planter in New England. He is a happy husband, proud father, giggling grandfather, thankful cancer survivor, and the author of numerous books aimed at helping small churches become healthier and individual Christians grow in their faith. You can find his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-TerryDorsett