I think it’s funny to make up random stories.
I am here at CIY with a great group of students and the subject of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln came up.
Some of the guys were talking about interesting facts about the two.
I can’t remember what they said, but they were interesting.
So I threw in a random fact.
My statement was…
Even though you always see Abraham Lincoln with a beard and George Washington without a beard it was actually the complete opposite. Abraham Lincoln actually never had a beard until about two weeks before he was murdered, the rest of the time he was shaved. George Washington on the other side was always wearing a full beard but went without a beard for about the same amount of time and yet every picture of him is without a beard.
The students were surprised and amazed at what was said.
Then I told them I made that up on the spot.
I think what I said was pretty funny.
Joking around and with a smile on one of their faces, one of them said, “Man, I didn’t know a youth minister could be such a good liar.”
He said this in a completely joking way, but there was truth to that.
My random story was a lie and I did a good job of telling that lie.
Is this the message I want to portray?
I felt guilty.
I thought I was telling a joke but really I was telling a lie.
What I classify as funny sometimes really isn’t.
Jesus said this in John 8:45-46…
“Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?”
Jesus was blameless and people claimed he was a liar.
When he told them to think of a sin he has done, they could not come up with one.
I could not be accused of the same.
I am a sinner.
Jesus was not and the people still wouldn’t believe him.
I tell tall stories and tell them well, people think I am telling the truth.
This is not what I want to be known for and I need to change.
We tell stories to sometimes get attention.
I know I do and I am not proud of this.
As I look for things I need to improve on, this is one area.
How about you?
Jesus was blameless and yet took the blame for us.
Each and everyone one of us can be blamed for something except Jesus.
He died because he took the blame for each and every one of us.
That is the truth and he did that for everyone.
God did that for us.
That is a story worth believing.
If you haven’t believed and had faith in Jesus, now is the time.
I am a sinner, I still need to improve in my life, what can you try to improve in your life?
