True and Not True

EVERY MAN BELIEVES THAT TRUTH EXISTS, OR HE WOULD NOT ASK A QUESTION OR MAKE A STATEMENT.

Bible Reading of the Day: Read Psalm 119:30-32.

Verse of the Day: “I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws” (Psalm 119:30, NIV).

“Papa,” Benjamin said, “let’s play the ‘True and Untrue’ game!”

“Oh, I’m too tired,” teased his father. Benjamin had come to the office with his father that morning and was tired of coloring all by himself.

“Oh, please, Papa,” the boy begged. “Please?”

“What’s the ‘True and Untrue’ game?” asked Dale, one of Papa’s coworkers.

“It’s a little game we’ve played with Benjamin for some time now, to help him understand what the terms ‘true’ and ‘untrue’ mean.”

Papa hoisted little Benjamin onto his lap to begin the game. He cleared his throat, then said, “Dale’s hair is purple.”

“Untrue!” Benjamin shouted, pointing at Dale’s hair, which was red.

“Peanut butter comes from chickens!”

“Untrue!”

“Dogs go ‘woof’”

“True!”

“This is my spleen,” Dad said, touching his chin. “Untrue!”

“You’re a pretty smart kid,” Dad said, laughing.

“True!” Benjamin announced proudly.

“I can’t hear you!”

“Untrue!” Benjamin said, though he spoke louder than before.

“I love you!”

“True!”

“God loves you!”

“True!”

The game ended then as Dad poked Benjamin in his most ticklish spot and lifted him off his lap and onto the floor. Dale, who had watched the game, smiling the whole time, watched Benjamin return happily to his coloring.

“Where’d you come up with that game?” he asked Benjamin’s father.

Papa shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. We’ve just always played it.”

Dale grunted. “Well, I know plenty of adults who could benefit from a few rounds of ‘True and Untrue.’”

Papa smiled and nodded. “I do, too, Dale,” he said. “I do, too.”

TO DO: Play your own version of the “True and Untrue” game. What facts or concepts are always “true” or “untrue”?

TO PRAY: “Lord, the ‘Verse of the Day’ is our prayer: ‘We have chosen the way of truth; we have set our hearts on your laws.’”