Once silver dollars were actually made of silver. Like many coins, now they are made with inferior metal at the core and a silver-coating on the outside. You can tell whether a silver dollar is true by the way it sounds when dropped. If the coin is merely silver plated, with a lesser substance at the core, it gives the sound of a dull thud. If it is a real silver dollar it 'rings true' when dropped, indicating that it is silver both on the outside and in the core.

How do our lives sound when we are thrown down or dropped into adverse situations? Do our lives ring true to our profession of faith or do we give a hollow thud? Do we pretend to be something on the outside while being something much less at the core? Are we only silver-plated Christians?

What are we truly like in the inner core? What occupies us when we are free to think our own thoughts? How do we behave when no one else is around? Are we jealous? covetous? lustful? selfish? angry? resentful? The Lord desires truth in the inward parts. David struggled with the wayward core of his own lustful nature. He realized that he needed God's grace to transform him from the inside out. He cries out in his prayer of repentance: "Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place." (Psalm 51:6 NIV).

To walk in truth means that I must be true to my created purpose. We were created to be 'mirror-images' of our Creator's moral character. Our humanity was intended to articulate perfectly the truth of His divinity. We are to be true expressions of the One who is Truth.

Adam was the failed prototype. He failed due to his response, not because of God's design. Jesus is the perfect proto-type. He succeeded to fulfill the purpose of the divine design for humanity by choosing to walk in truth. Jesus is a true expression of the truth of God. He said, "I am the truth." When Pontius Pilate asked Him, "What is truth?" Jesus gave him the most articulate answer by saying nothing. Truth is not primarily an expression 'in word'. Truth is an expression 'in life'.

Of course, it is impossible for fallen sons and daughters of Adam to be true expressions of God's holiness in life. Yet this is what God requires. The good news is that Jesus not only claimed to be 'the truth' and 'the life' but also 'the way'. He is the way back to God's original purpose for humanity. He provides a new and living way to express holiness: He gives His life for us by His sacrifice on the cross to pay our sin-debt. He lives in us by the power of the Holy Spirit to pay our love-debt, so we can mirror 'who He is' to others.

We are to walk in love, walk in the Spirit, walk in newness of life. A walk implies the process of talking steps of initiative. Walking is an activity that engages all of what we are. It involves the whole body, not just of the feet. If the whole body does not go along with the idea of walking - the body goes nowhere. So we must be fully engaged with the life of Christ's Spirit.

A walk implies balance and consistency. Truth is not only to be confessed on a Sunday, but demonstrated through our living throughout the week. The truth of 'Who God is' is to be expressed in the way I relate to my wife in marriage, to my children as a father, to my friends, in my relationships, in the way I handle my finances, the way I monitor what I watch on television and what I think in the privacy of my own thoughts. A walk in truth impacts the way I treat my body. The way I engage in worship. For example, am I more 'into' watching a football game than I am in cheering Christ's performance in history?

God's greatest joy is when truth has found its way to the core of your being. (3John 1:2-4)

Jesus is the Answer,