John 17:17
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
What really happened at the now infamous Capitol Hill siege? Were those people Trump supporters, paid imposters, Antifa, or some mixture of all of them? And what about the Presidential election results? Was the whole thing rigged, or was it just a few key states? Perhaps the amount of voter fraud was nothing unusual? Add to this some Russian collusion, Hillary’s emails, and Benghazi…and what do you get? A mass of confusion, misinformation, and disinformation in the search for The Truth.
In less than day after his High Priestly Prayer, Jesus would find himself standing before Pontius Pilate having a discussion about truth. “What is truth?” was the Roman Governor’s reply. It’s a reply that has echoed down through the ages but has become a roar in the modern digital age. On Facebook alone there are 1.8 BILLION users on a daily basis that post over 4.7 BILLION items per day. Which posts are true…and which ones are false? Back in Jesus’ day there 12 Roman gods…and in modern Hinduism there are at least 33 million. Confusion, misinformation, and disinformation extend far beyond the shores of American politics.
“Sanctify” means to be set apart. We are called to be set apart FROM the corruption and lies of the world and FOR God’s use. And while we can have disagreements over the facts in any given matter, there are basic truths that God’s Word simply does not leave open for debate, and these are the truths that Jesus came to earth to testify about (Jn. 18:37). As Christians, this is what sets us apart from the lost world around us. God’s Word is THE TRUTH and it never waivers based on popular opinion or what gets reported in the mainstream media. Jesus knew we would be assaulted by lies 24/7 and so he prays for us to be set apart—protected—by the Truth that comes from knowing God and His Word.
Spurgeon said, “The more truth you believe, the more sanctified you will be. The operation of truth upon the mind is to separate a man from the world unto the service of God.” Your allegiance to finding political truth should never overshadow or “out-shout” your allegiance to proclaiming the Truth of God’s Word. The other day on my radio show I said, “If I prayed as much as I post I would be a spiritual force to be reckoned with!” The same could be said about how much time we invest in being sanctified by the Word of God. The more troubling and bizarre the news of the day becomes, the more we need to be set apart by God’s Word. It is the only source of eternal truth—a truth the overshadows, outweighs, and outlasts the truth claims of the world. It is the only truth available to you that can truly calm your nerves, relax your spirit, and encourage your thoughts to look UP…rather than around.
