Love The Truth

Scripture: John 11:53-57  (Click link for scripture in Bible Gateway)

53 So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death. 54 As a result, Jesus stopped his public ministry among the people and left Jerusalem. He went to a place near the wilderness, to the village of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples. 55 It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem several days early so they could go through the purification ceremony before Passover began. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, but as they stood around in the Temple, they said to each other, “What do you think? He won’t come for Passover, will he?” 57 Meanwhile, the leading priests and Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone seeing Jesus must report it immediately so they could arrest him. (John 11:53–57 NLT)

Jesus left for the village of Ephraim, and stayed out of sight with his disciples for the remaining time until Passover. The resurrection of Lazarus and the sudden surge in belief in Jesus as Messiah caused the Jewish leaders to strengthen their resolve and gave urgency to their plans to kill Jesus. The Jewish leaders actively plotted Jesus’ death and put out an All Points Bulletin against him ordering that anyone who saw him must report him immediately so they could arrest him.

Because of the willful blindness of the Jewish leaders and their rejection of the truth, their slide into the depths of sin and deception accelerated! One sin leads to another, and it begins a rapid downward spiral that can only be stopped by repentance and the power of God’s Spirit to change our hearts. 10…They refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11 NLT)

The Jewish leaders placed their religious system above everything they once knew to be right, and they lost all sense of truth, honesty and integrity.

Dear Friends, Let’s love the truth! Let’s reject the lies! Let’s be fact-checkers and truth-tellers. I’m so concerned when I see Christians posting things on social media without taking time to check to see if those things are true! It costs us our integrity. It costs us credibility. It costs us our ability to speak for God! And if we don’t love the truth and reject the lies we’ll slide into deception! Please love the truth!

Prayer:

Father, Please help us love the truth and reject the lies! For our witness’ sake! Amen.