As God Pleases, Dispose the Day in Light and Truth
Post by Denise Brewer under Parenting/Society, Spiritual Life
December 18th, 2008 Comments Off
Back in the day when gas stations had attendants that pumped your gas for you; a young woman drove in to get a fill up. Her attendant happened to be a teenager named Phil; a young man who would one day become a pastor. On this day however he was being a good employee and offered to check under the hood. She replied in the affirmative and Phil began by checking her oil. He was surprised to find that the car wasn’t merely low on oil, it had no oil. He showed the woman the dipstick that was perfectly dry, registering no oil at all. She went berserk! “Why do all you gas station attendants try to make me buy things I do not need”. Phil, with the evidence held in his hand, stood dumbstruck by her reaction. As she drove off, Phil still speechless, noticed that on her display panel a piece of masking tape was adhered over the oil warning light. He could see a dim dot of red still shining through the opaque tape, and he wondered how she got so suspicious of others that she would ignore all physical evidence of the truth.
Distrust, suspicion, and skepticism seem to be common attitudes of today’s society. When was the last time you truly trusted the word of a politician, newsman, advertisement, product claim, car mechanic, fellow employee, or in some cases even a friend or family member. We expect people to lie to us. Our society used to operate on the philosophy that a man’s word was his bond. Now if someone gives his or her word, it has little surety and leaves the hearer wondering if they aren’t trying a bit too hard to convince us of their sincerity, eliciting only more distrust.
When teaching on Greek philosophers who sought absolute truths, I asked my college students what truth is true for all men, through all time. The discussion that ensues is lively and mirrors the distrust so evident in society. One semester the students even reasoned that the old adage “taxes and death” were not even certainties. After the debate has run its course, I end with this statement that “absolute truths do exist and that their belief or disbelief in them doesn’t alter their existence”. “For instance this desk in front of you is made of wood and metal and whether you believe that or not does not change the fact that it is made of metal and wood”! A person’s belief does not alter the truth, but their acceptance or rejection does alter the way they live.
The ultimate truth of all time and for all mankind is the person of Jesus Christ. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men… this true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man”. Just like light dispels the darkness in a room, the true light of Jesus Christ shows us our lost condition and the way to remedy that position and become reconciled to God. God promises that to anyone who believes in their heart that Jesus was born fully man and being fully God lived sinless, so He could die and make payment on our behalf, and was raised up on the third day, and confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord, shall receive Him and be given the right to become the children of God. Belief in Christ; this True Light, will dispel the darkness of untruth and set the recipient free.
If you are reading this and driving around in your own life with masking tape covering the truth of your condition, pretending the course of destruction you are on isn’t real, I pray that you will read the gospel of John this Christmas, and that Light of Life will shine into you heart and you will come to personally know the Lord Jesus Christ. His saving grace has made all the difference in my life, and I care too much to offer you less than the best gift ever given.
For those of you whose hearts are already illumined with the Light of Christ, may your light shine bright in a world wrapped in brightly shaded untruths!
Light a candle; light the dark, light the world
light a heart or two…
