I was going to a town about 30 miles from our home in Zambia. In order to get there, I drove on the nicest duel lane highway in the country. However, it was also the most notorious road in the country. More robberies and vehicle thefts occurred on this stretch of highway than anywhere else. About 10 miles from my destination, I saw a woman franticly running out of the bush, waving her arms, and screaming, trying to get me to stop. In the distance I could see two men chasing her. My natural instinct was to rescue this damsel in distress from the men who appeared intent of harming her. She was within five feet of my truck as I sped by her. No, I wasn’t being unchristian. In those few brief seconds, the Holy Spirit reminded me that this was a common deception thieves used to steal vehicles. In my rear view mirrors I saw her stop, throw her hands up in the air as she talked with the two men. All three turned around and calmly walked back into the bush.
My paternal grandmother used to say, “Don’t believe anything you hear, half of what you see, keep your mouth shut, and you’ll be okay.” Certainly not an absolute rule, yet there is an element of truth in her home spun wisdom. Not everything we hear or see is what it seems to be. P.T. Barnum, founder of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” He became wealthy utilizing this philosophy. Barnum would have loved infomercials.
The most common warning Jesus gave concerning the last days before His second coming was to beware of deception. See to it that no one misleads you…Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many (Mat 24:4, 11). The word translated ‘mislead‘ means to cause to roam, to deceive, to seduce. It’s bad enough to be deceived or seduced about worldly things, but I am constantly amazed at how many Christians are deceived and misled about eternal spiritual matters. Just because what a preachers says sounds good and the fact he appears to be ‘such a good person’, doesn’t make it true. When you stand in judgment before God, the preacher, the televangelist, or even the pastor who misled you won’t be standing there in your defense. God will probably remind every deceived individual that He provided the Bible and the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth.
Jesus also warned of the deceitfulness of wealth and riches. The Laodicean church, which many believe characterizes the church of the last days, had fallen into this deception. They proclaimed “I’m rich; I have become wealthy, and need nothing.” Jesus responded, “You don’t know that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev 3:17). I rarely watch cable Christian channels, but I like to play a game. I flip through the five channels our cable offers and see how many are preaching about finances. It is rare—extremely rare—to find one that is not teaching about how Christians can and should be wealthy (and of course how to send them an offering). Paul warned that difficult times will come in the last days. For people . . . lovers of money . . . (2 Tim 3:1-2). He also wrote concerning the last days, that we are not in the dark, so that this day would overtake you like a thief (1Th 5:4).
Instead of believing all we hear and see, remember there is only one source of absolute truth—God’s Word, the Bible. Plus, we have the Holy Spirit as our teacher. On my journey in Zambia, had I simply believed what I thought I saw and not known the methods thieves used to deceive and to steal vehicles, I would have certainly lost my truck and possibility my life. God has provided us with the knowledge of the devil’s tricks of deception.
I could rephrase my grandmothers saying, “Don’t believe anything you hear or see until you’ve check it out through the only source of truth—God’s Word.
Sustaining Word for the Week:
You don’t have to be a Christian ‘sucker’. We are children of light and children of the day. We’re not of the night or of darkness . . . But we must not sleep, like the rest, but we must stay awake and be sober (1 Thessalonians 5:5-6).