How the Truth Makes Us Free
Adapted from Strength for Each Day
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
The world tells us there are many sources of truth. It also tells us truth is relative, or dependent on circumstances. The world tries to get us to follow its truth, and the devil tries to convince us that what he says is truth. He wants us to receive as truth the thoughts he plants in our minds, but we know that he does nothing but lie (see John 8:44). There is only one source of eternal truth—the truth that will change our lives and set us free—and that is God’s Word.
In today’s scripture, Jesus did not tell the Jews that they would know the truth and that it would make them free if they casually read His Word or knew a few verses of Scripture. He said, “If you abide in My word.” According to the Amplified Bible, abiding means “continually obeying” His teachings and “living in accordance with them.”
I believe this is one of the great keys to spiritual strength and to victory in any form of spiritual warfare. Only by abiding in (obeying) God’s Word will we know the truth to the point that it will make us free. God’s Word is truth (see John 17:17), and it is powerful in our lives if we receive it in our hearts and apply it to our lives each day through obedience.
Prayer of the Day: Father, thank You for the unshakeable truth of Your Word. Help me to abide in it and know it as truth so it will make me free, amen.
