Just How Close Can You Get?

Don’t lose your grip on Love and Truth. Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart. Earn a reputation for living well in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people.
- Proverbs 3:3 & 4 The Message Bible

Recently, someone said to me that shading the truth is different than lying. I disagreed and because the differences in our beliefs had polarized us, I politely ended the conversation.

I don’t understand why people spend time defending the right to deceive others. It isn’t sensible to live life so dangerously close to the edge of ruin.

The following is an Aesop-type story: A wealthy man, who lived in a chateau on top of a mountain, interviewed three young men for the job of chauffeur. He asked the same two questions of each interviewee, “Did you notice the increasing drop-off along the narrow winding road to my home? Tell me how close to the edge of the cliff can you drive without going over it?”

The first interviewee answered, “Sir, I can get within one inch of the cliff without going over it.”

The second interviewee answered, “Sir, I can do better than that! I can drive within one-half inch of the edge without going over the cliff!”

The third interviewee said, “Sir, as your driver I am going to hug the wall side of the road. It is certain I will damage your vehicle on the right side going down the mountain and on the left side going up the mountain because I purpose to stay away from the edge of that cliff.

He got the job.

Let us encourage one another to hug the wall of truth and avoid the edge of deceit, because in the words of Elizabeth Cady Stanton – Truth is the only safe ground to stand on.