Thankful, Day Twenty-Seven

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

Know that the Lord, He is God.

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 100, NKJV

Contrary to popular belief, truth is not relative. Nor does it change. Truth is absolute, and the truth of God is the most absolute truth there is. God wanted us to know it, and He wanted us to live by it, so He revealed it to us in a collection of narratives, genealogies, poems, chronicles, and letters, the 66 volumes contained in the Holy Bible. Those words are faithful and true. They are as relevant today as they were when they were first written. And the truth they reveal does not change!

For the man whose truth is not absolute, it changes with his opinions.

For the people whose truth is not absolute, it changes with the times.

For the religion whose truth is not absolute, it changes with the shifting tides of church politics.

But when one recognizes one truth as absolutely absolute, it never changes. What was true for Moses is still true for me. What was true for King David is still true for me. What was true for Jesus is still true for me. What was true for Paul and Peter and James and Jude and John is still true for me. When I need to find an answer to a question, a solution to a problem, a statement on any issue, all I have to do is turn to the eternal, universal, unchanging truth of God's Word and there I will find my help.

The psalmist wrote of God, "Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I will hide its words in my heart, that I might not sin against God."

I'm thankful today that I have the truth revealed to me in the Word of God. I will find it if I search for it, and I will be blessed when I live by it. I don't have to make up my own rules, laws, or beliefs. God has given me everything I need to know for life and for godliness, for belief and practice, for faith and conduct, right there in that Good Book.

I'm thankful today that the truth I have in God's Word does not change. I know alot of people who are disregarding the Word as irrelevant for us today, as not applicable in this 21st Century world. They add to it the things they think it doesn't say; they take away from it the things they no longer want. They deny its inspiration and its endurance. They claim new revelation that supersedes the old. But they are wrong. God never changes; He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is more constant than the northern star. There is no shadow or turning with Him. And His Word, His Name, is Faithful and True.

I'm thankful today that the truth of God's Word is all-sufficient in its revelation of God. Everything I need to know about Him, I can find in His Word. And I can also rest assured that if anyone comes along with another idea about God that doesn't match the revealed Word, then they are mistaken or lying, and I don't need to heed it. I don't have to go to a man to find out about God; I can go right to the Word, which will tell me everything I need to know about God, about mankind, and about God's dealing with mankind.

I'm thankful for the Word, for the enduring truth that lives and abides forever!