By Jennifer R.When I was in the fourth grade, we had to memorize the states and capitals. As my dad was quizzing me over the material, he asked me what state’s capital was Dover.
“Denver,” I confidently stated.
“No, Denver is the capital of Colorado. Dover is the capital of Delaware,” he corrected.
For the next several hours, days, and maybe even weeks, there was a fierce debate that would become part of our family folklore.
Clearly, either my teacher had transcribed the information incorrectly on the blackboard or I had transcribed it incorrectly on my paper. (My guess is that the fault was mine since I don’t remember anyone else making the same mistake.) However, try as he might, my dad could not convince me that I was wrong.
He offered to look up the information in an atlas and show it to me. Nope, I wouldn’t be convinced. (What? Did I think he would modify the atlas just for the purpose of misleading me?) He offered to call the airlines and ask them if he could fly to Dover, Denver to prove my error. Nope. (Because clearly the airlines were in cahoots with this conspiracy to make me fail fourth grade geography?) I can’t explain my irrational dogmatic belief that I was right and everyone else was wrong. And I don’t remember how I was finally convinced that I was wrong, but eventually I did learn that Dover is the capital of DELAWARE, not Denver. (And I’ll never forget it, thank you very much.)
My point in telling this story is that there was an absolute truth: Dover was the capital of Delaware and Denver was the capital of Colorado, no matter what I believed about those cities. In this day of relativism, people are prone to say that truth is relative. They say that something may be true “for you” but not true “for them.” (I wonder what the capital of Delaware is for those people?) However, truth is truth. If something is true, it is not dependent on whether you believe it or not. I could forever believe that Dover was the capital of Denver. It wouldn’t make it true.
The way to find out truth is to check a reliable source. For states and capitals, an atlas would be a good example of a reliable source. For life and godliness, the Bible is our infallible source. If God says it, you can believe it because He cannot lie. The Bible may not hold the answer to your every question (the capital of Kansas, for example), but the answers it does hold are 100% reliable.
Let us all resolve to read and study the Word of God more than ever so we can tap into this “information source” and learn real, absolute TRUTH.
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
(John 8:31-32, NKJV)
(John 8:31-32, NKJV)
Re-posted from Jennifer's blog, Reflections.
