Day 2: True or False Tests

The true/false test has been around since the beginning of time. It’s distinguishing truth from a lie. It’s the test that Adam and Eve took when the serpent told them to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. In a true/false test, the enemy often comes with a temptation or lie, or even sneakier, a half-truth. The task is to discern and stand on the truth.

In Genesis 3, the serpent says to Eve, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

Genesis 2 says that God made all sorts of trees that were beautiful to look at and were good for food, and Adam and Eve had permission to eat from any of them except one –the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In crafting his question to Eve the way he did, the serpent shifted Eve’s focus from the abundance of what she could eat to the one thing she couldn’t. From that place, he began to tempt her with lies that weakened her grasp of the truth and made her want to risk trying a bite of the forbidden fruit.

To Eve’s credit, she started in this scenario by answering the serpent with what God said. Going back to God’s word and what He says is our defense in true/false tests. Jesus used Scripture when He was tempted by the devil in the desert. To each of the three areas the devil tried to tempt him, Jesus refuted by saying, “It is written” and then quoted Scripture that neutralized the lie of the enemy.

Having God’s word as our source of truth doesn’t mean slapping a Bible verse on something to justify our actions. It requires “rightly dividing” or accurately handling the word of truth. Paul wrote these instructions to Timothy. Timothy knew God’s word. He’d been taught by his mother and grandmother. But Paul is instructing him to be diligent in studying and knowing God’s word so he could stand strong and maintain sound teaching.

Discernment is the fruit that grows in us as we walk through true/false tests. Even when we fail these tests, if we are willing, we can still gain wisdom to better recognize the truth the next time. And there will be a next time.

In life, we get to keep taking these spiritual tests until we pass them. When we walk with God, the Holy Spirit shows us the weak places within ourselves that open us to the enemy’s attack, so we are able to stand strong the next time and walk in truth.

The author of Hebrews talks about the difference between baby Christians and mature Christians. Young Christians aren’t yet acquainted with all of God’s teachings about righteousness. But solid food – spiritual meat – is for the mature who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish or discern between good and evil. Discernment is a tool the mature believer never puts down.

As we grow in discernment, there are increased challenges – harder tests. An advanced test in discernment is determining between good and God. Not everything that looks good is of God. As we spend time with God and seek to rightly apply His word to the complex issues we face, we become trusted voices that can help bring clarity to situations that help people walk in mature relationship with God.