Sincerity and Truth

“…fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth…” —Joshua 24:14

The English word “sincere” comes from two Latin words which mean “without wax.” It was used to refer to honest pottery dealers who sold first class pottery that did not have cracks patched with wax. When patched pottery was held up to the light, the wax patch was easy to spot.

So it is with people who live insincere lives. When they are held up to the light, their hypocrisy shows! The implication for us is that God does not want His people to live lives of hypocrisy! He wants us to be what we claim to be!

In our text, Joshua was challenging Israel to serve God in sincerity—without hypocrisy. Joshua knew that Israel was still secretly holding on to idols and false gods that needed to be discarded before they could serve God in truth (Joshua 24:14-23). God won’t share you with any other “god.”

Hold up your life to the light of God’s Word to see if there is any “wax” covering the cracks of insincerity in your life. As Paul exhorts, “Prove the sincerity of your love” (2 Cor. 8:8).