You and I live in a day of deception.Make no mistake about it: deceivers, liars, false witnesses, truth twisters and fact skewers abound. These last days, the spirit of deception is alive and well worldwide.
To deceive means “to be false, ensnare, cheat, to cause or to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid, a false impression.” Synonyms include “mislead, delude, fool, beguile.” (Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). Let’s face it and be honest: you and I can be very gullible! To my embarrassment, I have been duped in the past and so have you. It is amazing how we can be tricked and deceived into believing something that is not true. It is so patently human to swallow hook, line and sinker what this world is fishing for. Deception always presents itself with a juicy, wiggly worm that beckons unwary individuals to take the bait. Do you catch yourself wondering what is true and false today? Truth is presented as falsehood, and what is false is declared to be true. Deception produces a spirit of confusion. A prime objective of deception is to make good look evil, and evil look good. Our world today, including our nation, has little or no idea what is true, right, pure and holy. Deception is subtle and lethal. The source of deception is Satan. The devil is the chief deceiver. His dastardly work of deception was conceived in the Garden of Eden. The wily, wicked serpent, Satan, deceived Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:2-7, II Corinthians 11:3). Caving to deception, our first parents were booted out of Paradise, separated from God, and sin and death infected the human race. Today, Satan’s deceived, demonic minions, from the pit of hell, work tirelessly to peddle lies, falsehood and outright untruth to naïve, vulnerable, unsuspecting people who let their guard down. Question: Do you believe everything you see, hear or read? Do you buy without questioning whatever a popular, high-profile public figure sells? Are you easily sucked in to ideas, agendas, and philosophies that are not based on truth? Are you duped by what is “trending” at the time? The preventative to deception is discernment. To discern means “to separate, distinguish between, to discriminate, to detect, to cut through, to make certain.” Synonyms include “perception, insight, acumen.” (Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). Writing to his son, Solomon wrote in Proverbs 1:1-7 to seek “wisdom, instruction, understanding, discernment, knowledge, discretion, wise counsel, wise behavior, righteousness, justice, equity and to fear the Lord which is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom.” Solomon’s son, like you and me, to be wise in life, would definitely need discernment and discretion to avoid deception. Jesus was concerned that His followers discern the times. Speaking to a Jewish crowd and their religious leaders who were testing Him, Jesus asked “Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:3b). Paraphrase: you guys and gals are good at discerning the seasons. But not at discerning and understanding the signs of the time you live in. That could be us too, huh? Christ followers must be discerning today. Technology invades you and me with massive amounts of information at lightning speed. Deception is interwoven into the fabric of much information. You and I are all but forced to make many decisions on a daily basis as what to believe or not believe. God’s people have to be discerning to not be deceived in this day of deception. When we seek and receive the Lord’s discernment, we will walk with confident, overcoming by faith in His wisdom. The way is always clear when we pursue and practice God’s Word in the Bible. Discernment Do’s And Don’ts
Deception or discernment is up to you. “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have trained their senses to discern good and evil.” Hebrews 5:14 A Word For Your Week: Be discerning then you won’t be deceived. |
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