Confusion, Truth, and Consequences

Sometimes I get confused. Since I have been doing chemotherapy, I am more easily confused. One of my seminary professors had (and may still have) a sign on his door that reads:

Confused - but at a higher level.

In our world where most people do not accept the fact that there is such a thing as absolute truth, where everything is subject to opinion, where everyone is right, things can often get confusing.

What are we to believe these days?

Certainly not everything we read on the Internet or hear from Oprah.

The Thessalonian believers were confused (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2). They had been taught, by Paul, that the rapture of the church would occur before the Day of the Lord (judgment). That is what they were expecting. But along came these false teachers who proclaimed that they were now experiencing this time of judgment. They were confused. And Paul had to set them straight.

In their day and in ours, it is so important to know and to cling to the truth. If we are not, we will be tossed to and fro by the teaching of every new "prophet" that comes along.

For me, the daily source of truth is God's Word, the Bible. The more I read the Bible, the better able I am to discern the truth as I read the newspaper or listen to Fox News or hear what the latest TV preacher is saying.

I still get confused. But I know where to find the truth and to find help in determining what is true.

After that, I must cling to the truth. Focus on the truth. Proclaim the truth. Defend the truth.

Not knowing the truth has its consequences.