John 8:31-42 (CEV)
The Truth Will Set You Free
31 Jesus told the people who had faith in him, “If you keep on obeying what I have said, you truly are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered, “We are Abraham’s children! We have never been anyone’s slaves. How can you say we will be set free?”
34 Jesus replied:
I tell you for certain that anyone who sins is a slave of sin! 35 And slaves don’t stay in the family forever, though the Son will always remain in the family. 36 If the Son gives you freedom, you are free! 37 I know that you are from Abraham’s family. Yet you want to kill me, because my message isn’t really in your hearts. 38 I am telling you what my Father has shown me, just as you are doing what your father has taught you.
Your Father Is the Devil
39 The people said to Jesus, “Abraham is our father!”
Jesus replied, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did. 40 Instead, you want to kill me for telling you the truth that God gave me. Abraham never did anything like that. 41 But you are doing exactly what your father does.”
“Don’t accuse us of having someone else as our father!” they said. “We just have one father, and he is God.”
42 Jesus answered:
If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and only from him. He sent me. I did not come on my own.
Truth,
that elusive quality,
the actuality of how things are.
Not the veneer
that I try to present,
not how I have convinced myself
things really are,
not what I wish,
but
truth,
fact,
reality.
This is what you give us,
what you reveal in yourself
and highlight in me.
I can pretend it is not so,
but how does that help.
Knowing the truth
is ultimately powerful,
forgiving,
redeeming;
I can deal with how things are,
not spend my time running
and wishing it were otherwise.
The truth,
your truth,
frees me,
gives me the knowledge I need
to move on
– to move on with you.
And so today Lord,
I pray for truth,
knowledge
and understanding.
The truth to know myself in you
and know your truth
to move on with.
Thank you
that you know me in my truth,
continue to love me
and offer your forgiveness.
Help me to do the same,
and walk
in the light of your truth.
