Honest and Truthful

As short a month as February is, it’s chock full of mini-holidays.  Groundhog day, where a large rodent predicts the coming of Spring; Valentine’s Day, focused on LOVE and the birthday celebrations of two of Americas favorite presidents, “Honest” Abe Lincoln and “Truthful” George Washington.  As school children, we listened attentively to the legend of George and the cherry tree.  You will recall that he put his new ax to the roots of his Mom’s favorite fruit tree.  No one saw him, and he could have gotten clean away with this heinous crime, but instead, he fessed up.  We can all quote his famous words, “I cannot tell a lie, I chopped down the cherry tree.“  “The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth.” Proverbs 12:22. I can still remember a classroom full of 3rd graders squirming uneasily in their seats, as we recalled our own “criminal” acts.  Whether or not Abe and George where totally influenced by Biblical teachings, I do believe God’s word motivated much of their behavior.  While it isn‘t popular thought today, history upholds the fact that our first leaders depended on, and prayed often for God’s guidance. Nowadays, honesty and truthfulness are, sadly,  not the adjectives that come to mind when describing our elected officials.  What went wrong?  Many will disagree, but it’s clear to me, that we have all started listening to, and modeling our behavior on everything but the Bible.  Ask yourself, are we any better as a nation now?  I think the answer is obvious.  The apostle John spoke to the early church when he said, “We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” 1 John 4:6.  Listening to, and obeying God’s word may not assure that our birthdays will be future holidays, but it will gain us something far better.