++Honesty++
There is an old story about a
father and his son. The father was getting on in years and grooming his son to
take over his construction business when he retired. The son was engaged and
was very anxious to be married to his beautiful bride. The father had wanted to
take a vacation for a long time. So he called his son aside and said, “Son, I
am going on vacation and I want you to build this large house for my favorite
client while I’m away. There is one special thing about building this house. It
is on a hillside so please make sure the foundation is wide, deep, and with
bracing even though it will cost three times as much. I don’t want the
foundation washed out by the rains, especially for this special client.”
The son started right away on the house. He
could clearly see why the father had told him to build an extra strong
foundation. The view was extraordinary but the terrain was steep and in a
strong rain storm the foundation could be washed away, taking the whole house
with it. But then the son started to think. I soon will own the business and by
building a regular foundation it will be possible to save enough money to buy a
small house so I can get married to my beautiful Sarah quicker. Besides if it
doesn’t rain hard the foundation will last for a couple of years. Then I can
say it was a shift in the land that causes the foundation to break and get paid
again when I have to repair the house.
The house was finished two days
before the father returned from his vacation. The father went out to see how
the house had turned out. The son was excited to see his father and find out
how his vacation was. After visiting for a few minutes, the father wanted to
know if everything had gone along as expected in constructing the house. The
son replied everything had been done as planned except the foundation. The son
then proudly said, “ I made a smart business decision
on the foundation. I saved enough money by making a normal foundation to buy a
little house for myself. See how I have put this fancy siding on to hide the
foundation so the owner will never see how thin and shallow it is. Then when it
washes away I can say there is nothing wrong with my construction. You are a
fool for picking a poor building site and make him pay me to build him another
house.”
The father’s face dropped as he looked at his son and said, “ Son you are the fool. This house was to be your wedding gift from me. When it rains hard you will have nothing. You have only cheated yourself out of a very lavish wedding gift.”
So it is in our lives when we
actually believe lies can be used for gain. We are only lying to ourselves
because God already knows the truth. We are only cheating ourselves out of the
many blessings God wants to give us. Truth is the foundation of Heaven and earth.
Anything not built solidly on the truth will not stand the test of time. You
can hide a poor foundation with half-truths and lies. You can cover a
foundation of lies with dirt of avoidance and indifference. Houses of lies can
be profitable and self-satisfying for a while. But they will never last forever
and when the rains come all the houses built on lies will come
tumbling down. In the end you’ll be relieved that the truth is out. There is
never any peace, never any security, when any day, anytime, your lies can be
exposed. You will then realize how much easier it is to live in the truth, and
wonder why anyone would want to lie.
Jesus told us the truth would set
us free. Only in truth can we find Jesus, and only in truth can we follow Him.