MONDAY June 5th
Matthew 5:33 -37
‘Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.’
As we continue to look at some of the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, we come today to a few verses that ultimately are summed up in
v37 ‘Let what you say be simply ‘yes’ or’ No’; anything more than
this comes from evil!’
Without going into the details of ‘taking an oath’, we could sum up these verses as being an instruction to always be truthful and honest in our conversation.
Whatever we speak or say should always be truthful and should be able to be
relied upon by others. I wonder how often we have heard it said (or maybe have said it about someone ourselves) ‘Take what they say with a pinch of salt’, in other words you cannot be too sure as to what they are saying is the truth.
We can all elaborate or exaggerate about something if we are not careful, for example when relating the story as to how big the fish we caught was! It can
happen so easily, but the moment we do so we are no longer telling the whole truth or we are not relating something truthfully.
As Christians we have come to know the One who is the truth. We daily read from his word which is truth, therefore truth or truthfulness should be a hallmark of Christianity, therefore we should endeavour at all times to be men and women who are truthful!
Our yes must always be a yes and our no a no! We all need help to walk in such a way because we see so much that is the opposite of truth or the stretching of truth all around us. May God help us to be those who will be identified as those who speak the truth.