Today's Devotional

October 7, 2002

Subject:  The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing But

Hebrews 4:13 - "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."

I really hadn't realized how far we are away from God's standard of truth until I had a conversation with my boss last Friday.  I've been thinking about it all weekend.  She is a practicing lawyer in addition to the stuff she does in our office.  That's the kinda hobby people in Washington D.C. have.  In Texas "your other job" is usually something like waiting tables or delivering pizza, but in D.C. it's being a lawyer.  But anyway, back to my point.  I don't know how we got on the subject, but we ended up defining how important it is in the courtroom for the truth to be held in high esteem by the judge and everyone else in the courtroom.  If anyone fails to respect it, our system of justice falls apart.  She went into detail that I had personally never considered, about the often used and abused sworn statement that people recite in the courtroom.

I always thought that the statement was simply being emphatic when it said, "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth," but now I realize it's much deeper than that.  We know what the truth is, even if we don't always speak it, but what about the "whole truth".  The attempt by a former President to simply withhold information is a violation of the whole truth clause in the sworn statement.  While perhaps under his terms, he didn't lie; a partial truth or intentional withholding of information (unless you plead the 5th) violates the whole truth clause.  Basically, if you know what is being asked and you answer otherwise, you've violated the clause.  Of course, this violation is in itself a separate legal issue, so if someone violates it, then they go to more court to say they didn't and it goes on and on.  For us in everyday life it's like your mom or your spouse asking, "where have you been?"  You answer "out.'  That is a violation of the whole truth clause with them.

Often, our witness to others requires nothing short of the "whole truth", but we tend to water it down with only the basic elements of truth.  People can accept God, but when you tell them about Jesus, who not only knows the whole truth, but is Himself the Truth, then they've got to deal with the "whole truth."  How often do we do this?  I hear people all of the time  saying, "just tell them enough to answer the question."  While that may work legally, it won't work with god.  There is nothing that we can hide from Him.  Therefore, we might as well tell Him the whole truth because "all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him whom we've got to answer to."  

Carlen