February 10 - The Absolute Truth
February 10
The Absolute Truth
Bible Reading: Genesis 2:1-17
1Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. 4This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. 7And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Life in God’s Garden
8The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
1. WHICH FLAVOR ICE cream is best?
chocolate rocky road butter pecan
strawberry vanilla mint chocolate chip
2. Who was the greatest baseball player?
Babe Ruth Willie Mays Whitney Ford
Henry Aaron Ted Williams Leroy "Satchel" Paige
3. Which of these actions is wrong?
eating meat water-skiing kissing
lying singing sleeping
Now, those questions may seem pretty dumb to you. But I ask them for a reason.
Some people think there is no difference between questions #1 and #2 and question #3.
But there is a huge difference.
The first question asks you to make a choice based on your taste. You may like chocolate ice cream, but your sister or friend may like vanilla ice cream best. So who's right? Both of you, because it's a matter of taste. Whether you're talking about ice cream, favorite colors, or favorite songs, different people have different tastes.
The second question asks you to make a choice based on opinion. You may have an opinion about who was the greatest ballplayer ever, but someone else who is equally informed may have a different opinion.
But the third question is a different kind of question entirely, because it asks you to make a choice involving, not taste or opinion, but right and wrong. You see, some things are a matter of taste, some things are a matter of opinion, and others are true beyond a shadow of a doubt. Some things are absolute truths--that means they are true for all people, for all places, and for all time. Those things are true no matter what you like or don't like; they're true no matter what your opinion is; they're true absolutely.
Now, there are some people today who claim that right and wrong are just a matter of taste or a matter of opinion. But God has already revealed to us in his Word what is absolutely right and what is absolutely wrong.
REFLECT: Some things are a matter of taste, some things are a matter of opinion, and others are true beyond a shadow of a doubt. Can you think of two actions or attitudes that belong to each category?
PRAY: "Thanks, God, for the way your Word makes the absolute truth absolutely clear."