Absolutely true

The prophet Jeremiah had a very direct style of delivering the messages he received from God. If Jeremiah were around today, someone would have told him about the importance of timing, positive framing and motivational speaking. Instead, Jeremiah would stand at the door of the temple and make a big scandal in the street. However, things were only going to become worse. Jeremiah said, “Oh, that I could go away and forget My people and live in a travellers’ shack in the desert. They are a pack of treacherous liars. My people bend their tongues like bows to shoot out lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. They proceed from evil to evil. With practiced tongues, they tell lies and they do not know Me,” says the Lord,” (Jeremiah 9: 2-5). What a state of affairs! Jeremiah’s description of Judah could equally describe today’s culture and society. We live in an age when the very idea of absolute truth is not always accepted. Truth is relative and everyone has his or her own version of it. When you think about the politics, the double-speak, the stretching of the truth and the downright lies around you, do you often wish that you could run away from everyone and everything you know? Jeremiah wanted to move to a desert and live on his own. He wanted to be around people who were willing to fight for the truth. Most of all, Jeremiah wanted to be around people who knew God. The psalmist had a similar problem. “In my distress, I cried to the Lord, and He heard me. Deliver my soul, oh Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue,” (Psalm 120: 1-2). People were badmouthing the psalmist and misrepresenting the truth, and he chose to direct his complaint to God. When kingdom citizens find themselves in distress, they can do as the psalmist did, and cry to the Lord. As kingdom citizens, we need deliverance not only from the lies spoken about us, but also from the lies told to us by the enemy, who is a liar and the father of them (John 8: 44). Jesus comes to bring us life in all its abundance. When you experience this deliverance, you can share the psalmist’s testimony, that God heard your prayer.