TO TELL THE TRUTH

I was surprised to learn from a daily devotional book that about a score of years ago a certain Mr. Hirsh Goldberg had established a National Honesty Day "as a day to honor the honorable and encourage honesty." That day is April 30. Here is his reason for selecting the last day of the month. "April begins with a day dedicated to lying (April Fool's Day) and should end on a higher moral note."


Well, I'm all for it, but haven't noted any discernable improvement. In fact, it surely hasn't been announced or observed in our national capital. Perhaps it would be so new to them that it would interrupt normal proceedings.


I heard this on the radio. A boy in West Virginia won a contest. He took first place in a "Liar's Contest," a person who could stretch the truth farther than anyone. The report went on to say that he was headed for Washington D.C. to study political science. I predict that he'll fit in there without any waiting period.


We have had a hard time in our country to develop real saints. According to the Catholic Church, the first native born American to be sainted was Elizabeth Ann Seaton, who died at Emmitsburg, Maryland Jan. 4, 1821. It took the church until 1975 to get her on the official records. Perhaps she got tired waiting for her halo. About the time they sainted her, they dumped several dozen who had been "saints" for many years!


I like God's way of making saints a lot better! And He is at it all the time! Also, I like Paul's doctrine of "absent from the body, present with the Lord."


I have a comfortable feeling and an active faith in reading the passage where Jesus tells us that He is the Good Shepherd who know His sheep. That's us! And His sheep know the Shepherd! He knows us not only by name, but by nature, character and conduct. He states plainly, "I am the truth". The apostle John in his second epistle uses the word "truth" five times in the first four verses. Then in his third epistle states, " I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth".


None of us is perfect in knowledge or performance, but Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, can work with our imperfection. However, insincerity and hypocrisy close the door. Such are "not of His," because not of the truth. He is "a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" Heb. 4:12. "For the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed." I Sam. 2:3.