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The following was originally written as part of a daily email devotional, which I wrote from 2000 – 2005.
FIVE-LEGGED DOGS
Friday, October 31, 2003
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.” John 8:31,32 [NKJV]
According to C.R. Anthony, Abraham Lincoln had a favorite riddle he would put to his colleagues. It went like this: “If a man were to call the tail of a dog a leg, how many legs would the dog have?”
“Five,” was the usual reply. Wrong,” Lincoln would say with a smile. “The dog still has four legs. Calling the tail a leg doesn’t make it one.”
There is a lesson in that riddle. Maybe several of them. The one that leaps out at me is this: no matter how many times a lie is repeated, no matter how widely it is accepted, a lie is still a lie.
Calling an unborn child a fetus doesn’t make it less human. Declaring evolution as fact doesn’t make it so. Saying the Bible is a book of myths or that Christianity is a crutch for the weak-minded doesn’t make it so.
One of Satan’s favorite tactics is to keep repeating the same lies again and again until people begin to accept them as fact. Our duty, as God’s children, is to be so familiar with His truth that we readily recognize anything that adulterates, dilutes, or opposes it.
Truth liberates. It frees us to respond in an appropriate and healthy manner to our environment. It frees us from the persuasion of errant propaganda. It frees us from Satanic traps. It gives us a solid foundation for life and education.
Today’s advice: Beware of the five-legged dog…and other bad information.
A Prayer For Today: “Father, I want to live in the liberty of Your truth. Help me to know You and to understand Your truth. Give me wisdom and discernment. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
