Life Lessons: Five Legged Cow

Lawyer Abraham Lincoln was in a debate.  He asked his opponent, "How many legs has a cow?"

The man said "four."  Lincoln then asked his opponent that if you call a cow's tail a leg how many legs would a cow have?  The man said "five."

Lincoln responded, "Calling a cow's tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."

Truth doesn't change just because you change the meaning of words.

Points to build on

All of us are subjective.  We determine what we think is true through our emotional point of view or opinion.  Not all opinions can be right.  With so many different emotional points of view how can you determine truth?

Moral truth is based on standards that are not determined by personal emotions.  Two men standing on a cliff 1000 feet in the air can emotionally debate the law of gravity from different viewpoints.  They can argue that gravity doesn't exist with passion and conviction.  But if they jump off the cliff, as they plummet towards the earth, the law of gravity is no longer a subjective discussion.  It is a hard hitting reality.

Let your conscience be your guide is good advice only if your conscience is trained to pursue objective truth instead of being driven by emotions.

Solomon wrote, "There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death" (Proverbs 16:25).

Application

The solution to seeking truth is the ability to sort through our own thoughts and emotions.  We all must prayerfully and humbly seek the moral truth of God as revealed in the Bible.  The book of Proverbs, The Gospel accounts of the life of Jesus and the Ten commandments are good starting points in discovering God's way of truth.  In the end, the only opinion that counts is the opinion of the Creator of reality.

Proverbs 28:26:  "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But whoever walks wisely will be delivered."