Mother May I

“…I have walked in thy truth” (Psalm 26: 3).


What does it mean to walk in the truth?

Well first, how do you walk? You stand up, and then begin moving your legs. They set out like a machine, rapidly crossing back and forth, going forward all the while. You take one step at a time in order to move toward your destination, and you are focused on your goal and your purpose. Sometimes you take slow, deliberate, careful steps, while other times you are running, moving those legs as fast as they’ll go, not even thinking about how it happens. There are small, baby steps, and there are big, giant ones. It always varies, depending on what kind of person you are, what sort of mood you are in, or what condition of health you possess.

Now, what is the truth? When we think of telling the truth, we would say ‘honesty,’ or ‘not telling lies,’ not being fake or phony, hiding nothing, and leaving everything out in the open. But where do we come up with that? Jesus said, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life…” (John 14:6). So Jesus is the truth (or God). Just try to compare all those things I said about truth with Jesus. It all matches up. He is honest, He doesn’t tell lies, He is not phony, and He hides nothing. He puts His will for us right out in the open, right in the pages of His Word. So following truth, would be following God’s will for us, obeying every request or command. Some examples of these commands we should follow are found in Psalm 26:

I have not sat with vain persons—people who talk about mindless things of no importance, and don’t bring glory to God.

Neither will I go in with dissemblers—people who are destructive, cause dissention, and eliminate peace.

I have hated the congregation of evildoers—don’t enjoy wicked company. Hang out with righteous people who walk with the Lord.

And will not sit with the wicked—sitting might be an example of laziness. When laziness and wickedness are together, gossip, mocking, and other wicked things are present.

I will wash my hands in innocence—keep the commands of the Lord, don’t break your conscience, be innocent of all wrong.

Hooray! We now know how to walk, we know some of the steps we should take in order to follow God better, and we know that God is truth. So put ‘em together! (Bippity-boppity-boo!) Remember, I said that when you walk, there’s always a goal in mind. You might say “I want to cross the street,” so you walk there. Walking in the truth means that truth is our ultimate goal, so we take steps—sometimes big, sometimes small—to get there, keeping that goal in mind all the while.

I think of the game Mother, May I. A line of kids stand at the beginning of the field, while the “mother” stands at the other side. The childrens’ objective is to reach the other side first, but they can’t get there without the direction of the mother.
“Mabel, take 2 scissor steps.”
“Mother, may I?”
“You may.”
And Mabel’s scissor steps commence. The mother moves down the line, giving each child a new command. And each one, with the permission of the mother, moves forward till they reach her.

The children aren’t the ones who make the decisions for where to go. The mother does. Or in our case, the Father does. God tells us different steps we have to take to accomplish our objective.
“Miriam, stop sitting with vain persons.”
I remind myself that my goal is walking in the truth, and then I obey.


So the key to walking in the truth (summing it up) is to keep your focus on God, listen for His commands, and then make steps of obedience.