When Someone is So Close to Truth

This morning I was reading in a devotional book called "10 Minutes a Day with Jesus" written by my friend and mentor Jim Reapsome. The devotional I read today was focused on Jesus' brothers. They were so close to their Savior, but for most of the life of Jesus, these brothers were not open to His message.

We all know people who are so close to the truth don't we? We have people in our lives who see witnesses of the truth lived out daily and who have read the truths in the Bible but who have not made them their own.

What a challenge to our own process of growing in knowledge and truth! Many of us wonder, what is keeping these dear ones from connecting the dots.

Some people want to have the full picture before they will accept anything. They search, define, process and consider until they feel they understand it completely. In our book we call this group the Rock Dwellers. They spend their time adding up truth and subtracting untruth in an effort to produce a crystal clear image of what is real and true.

Others only explore truth as far as it relates to their personal experience. They believe in truth but define it subjectively. In our book we call this group the Island Dwellers. They live on real islands where things can be known but there are no bridges to connect with others.

The final group believes in shared truth that we can all know but takes the view that there is much we are still learning. This group is called the Valley Dwellers in our book and they live in community and humbly journey together in search for greater truth.

Think about those who are close to the truth but have not opened their hearts yet. What are the barriers for them? Is logic their barrier? Is personal preference a barrier? Is the infinite possibilities of truth a barrier? The sooner you understand what their truth journey looks like, the sooner you can come alongside them and encourage them in their search.

Who knows, you might be the person God uses to move aside the barrier and open up His truth to them in a powerful way!