How many times have you ever tried to convince someone of something you did or did not do, and to make it even more important that they believe you, you say, “I swear to God!” It’s interesting that this seems to be said by those who are not necessarily innocent, but want to convince others of innocence. Watching a police show on television, reveals those arrested for a crime, usually use that saying or, “I wear on my child’s life!” It’s like people think that imploring their oath of innocence to either God or someone else’s life might just make it believable. Have you ever had to sit in the witness stand in the courthouse, where a person asks you to raise your right hand, and: “swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” I think they have now left off, “So help me God!” But we are called to speak the truth without having to swear by anyone or anything. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:33-37 “Again, you have heard that it was said to our ancestors, ‘You must not break your oath, but you must keep your oaths to the Lord. But I tell you, don’t take an oath at all: either by heaven, because it is God’s throne; or by the earth, because it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King. Neither should you swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. But let your word “yes” be ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’ anything more than this is from the evil one.” As I meditate on God’s word, I start to realize that God wants honesty; He wants a pure heart, especially from His children. If we are living for Christ, we should always be in a situation or position to let our ‘yes’ be just that, an honest answer to the question put before us. Honesty needs no emphasis on swearing, it’s our own appeal to get someone to believe us, usually when we are guilty. We just don’t want to admit it. It like swearing to us, has become a means by which we can pronounce our innocence without admitting to our crime. So have you ever used that? Have you ever searched for ways to convince another of your innocence, and ended up using the phrase, ‘I swear to God!’ Interesting that Jesus says, “Anything more than this comes from the evil one.” So we are prompted by the adversary of our faith to use the name of our Lord Jesus, or God Himself when we want to make an impact. Don’t do it my friends, for you will not come across as innocent, and by the way, if you are not innocent, confess, speak the word of truth, and you will be set free from the burden of that which you have done. James speaks these very words of Christ in his letter, and then also says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.” 5:16 Let’s speak truth – always.
Heavenly Father, help us Lord to be faithful, even in our speech. Help us to be truthful in all our conversations. I pray that You will touch hearts today, and give us the ability to speak truth, from a heart dedicated solely to You. I pray this in Jesus name. Pastor Andy
Barnabas Man 