Read
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
Psalm 145:18
Reflect
You’re probably at least a little familiar with James Patterson, who has published more than 200 books since 1976. He’s a prolific author, but before he was writing novels, he was a very successful advertising executive. He started out as a junior copywriter of the very prestigious J. Walter Thompson advertising agency (now known as Wunderman Thompson) and at his peak became its CEO. Over the years, while he and JWT were representing clients like Ford, Kellogg’s, Johnson & Johnson and the United States Marine Corps, Patterson made a lot of observations about society, and he published these in a book called, “The Day America Told the Truth.”
One of his observations is that, “Americans are willing to lie at the drop of a hat. Lying is part of their lives. People say what others want to hear.” That’s a pretty cynical view, but he backs it up with some statistics. (Realize that these are now 30 years old, but it’s hard to imagine that American society has become more honest since then.)
- 91 percent of people in the United States say they lie routinely.
- 36 percent confess to lying about major matters.
- 86 percent of children lie regularly to their parents.
- 75 percent lie to their friends.
- 73 percent lie to their siblings.
- 69 percent of people lie to their spouses.
- 81 percent lie about their feelings.
- 43 percent lie about their income.
Those are some startling statistics. It’s easy to see why trust has eroded so much in our country. We don’t tend to trust each other, and most people definitely don’t trust institutions that used to be considered very trustworthy, like the media, the military and the government. (Recent polls place the percentage of trust in those areas at 40 percent, 56 percent and 24 percent respectively.)
So what is true? Who can we trust? There’s only one absolute truth that I know of, only one solid rock — the Lord God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Since the beginning of time, the Lord is the one thing that has never changed and never will. Even the best of people will sometimes let you down, but God stays by our side as long as we don’t stray from His. Psalm 145 tells us that, “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works,” and that “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”
So if you’re running low on faith and trust, make sure that you’re not placing it in people or in things that will eventually pass away. When the world lets you down, turn to the solid rock and place your foundation there. Make sure you’re never a slave to lies. Walk in the Lord’s light and in His truth.
Reflection copyright © 2024 Doug DeBolt and Charles Fulton.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
