deceive, v. to mislead by a false appeaarance or statement; intentional concealment or mirepresentation of the truth.

In John 14:6, Jesus describes Himself as "the way, the truth, and the life."

Today, more than ever, it seems as if we are surrounded by deceit. More and more we encounter people who, even when faced with facts, choose to believe lies.

Weapons have been found in Iraq, we have the UN documents, presented this year, as late as May 2004, which prove it. But people would rather believe we were lied to.

Likewise, we know that babies in the womb feel pain. But people would rather believe that a woman's rights to end her pregnancy supercede her child's suffering.

We know that condoms are the worst form of birth control, yet the world teaches our young men and women that these thin rubber balloons can keep the AIDS virus from infecting them.

Last week we talked about liberty. Liberty that results in our right to be free. We are indeed free to believe whatever we want, including freedom to believe lies.

Incredible, isn't it? That people would choose lies over facts. Why do you think this is?

Well, here is my theory. Truth has consequences. If we come face to face with the truth, we are forced to make choices, to make judgments. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for judgment is mishpat. Its meaning relates to judicial sentencing, both favorably or unfavorably. In other words, a judge can rule (or judge) in your favor, or he can find you guilty. But judgments involve taking sides. And in this world of political correctness and tolerance, taking sides is most unpleasant.

So the world would rather believe a lie... because the truth might mean that there is right and wrong, that there is good and evil. Because choosing truth, good, right, forces us to take a stand against deceit, evil, wrong... and when we do that, there is always a price to pay.

So the world believes that deception makes for peacekeeping (in contrast to peacemaking), and that peacekeeping will allow us to survive. Sadly, this survival results in existence, in contrast to true life.

After all, He did say that He was the way, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. You really can't have one, without the other.

Have a blessed week.