The last portion of verse two in the 15th Psalm gives us a third guideline for a blameless life. It reads this way, "...who speaks the truth from his heart..." (NIV)

The Amplified Bible translates it this way: "...speaks and thinks the truth in his heart..." (Amp)

Truth, in this day and age, seems to be such an elusive thing. Have you thought about that? I think for many us, it begins at an early age as we watch older role models (parents, siblings, teachers) who "fudge" their way through life by bending the rules, telling half-truths and white lies, and conveniently leaving out all the facts.

Then, the problem is exacerbated by the age of technology that we live in. Computer generated images give Hollywood the ability to fabricate worlds we only picture in our mind. We can't tell real photos from doctored ones. The news is twisted to support one view over another or to sell ads. At the end of the day, it can leave you scratching your head wondering if anyone even knows the truth any more.

But there is still truth...and it can be found. That's something I keep trying to remind my kids. Truth is not truth unless it's ALL truth. Truth with only a touch of falsehood is still a complete lie. The Bible is clear that God honors those who keep truth in their heart and on their lips. Jesus goes so far as to say that the reason this is so is that truth does us good. It sets us free.

Don't believe it? Just ask me. I remember one time as a child (not the only time, I must admit) when I told a little lie. I promise, it was just a little one. Actually, what I did was tell my classmates that I was born on an airplane over the Atlantic. The truth was that I was born in a hospital in Columbus, GA--but that was just too boring. Now, in my elementary mindset, I justified it by the fact that most of the story was true. I was born. I did have a mother. I even called her by her correct name. That whole business about a trans-Atlantic birth was irrelevant to the story anyway. Or so I thought.

Then one friend passed the story to another who passed it to another and then on to a teacher. With each re-telling, the story got a little bolder and I got asked more questions. The problem is, I never denied the original lie NOR did I squelch the growing rumors that had attached themselves to the original story. By the time it had reached my home room teacher, it was a narrative on the scope of War and Peace. The biggest problem was that the teacher knew my mom and she knew the whole thing was a lie. I was caught--caught in a web of my own making.

I won't tell you the whole sordid story, particularly the very embarrassing ending once I was exposed. Suffice it to say, I love being free. I love knowing that my words are true even if they are sometimes hard to utter. Here's the key: honesty comes from a heart of truth. Truth comes from God's word. And the only way to ensure a blameless life is to be sure that God's word (truth) is buried in your heart. The psalmist put it this way:
I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. Psalm 119:30

In Christ their is freedom because, in Christ, their is truth. Bury these things in your heart so that you may know a blameless life.