“For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” (Matthew 24:24, ESV)
My wife loves Quaker Oatmeal Squares. Emphasis on Quaker. They have to be the “real thing”! One time I mistakenly brought home the imitation, generic version. They looked about the same and tasted about the same to me, but she is a “super taster” and could tell they were not the real thing.
You can probably relate via one of your favorite family recipes. If it’s missing something or someone tried to duplicate it but substituted an ingredient, you know it. Like a certain kind of chocolate chip or the perfect blend of two kinds of flour in Grandma’s cookies. And why do you know this? Because you have spent years experiencing and enjoying that particular taste.
Ever play a round of golf with a rental set? It’s just not the same, is it? Even if it’s a nice high-end set, you will likely wonder how far the 8-iron will go compared to yours. You have probably invested a lot of time on the range and on the course learning just how far you hit each club. When you grip the rental club and address the ball, you know right away they are not your clubs.
The same is true in our relationships with friends and family. The more time we spend with people, the more we truly know them. We all have those really close friendships, the kind of friendships that develop over time because you have experienced much of life together. The more time you spend with someone, the better you know them. You can pick up on the subtle signs that something is wrong even before they tell you.
It can be easy to base our faith on the teachings of a popular personality rather than on the teachings of Scripture.As a follower of Jesus, the more time we spend in the Scriptures, the more we know the true character and heart of God. We are all products of our teachers and thankfully, here in the United States, we can still pick our teachers. But how do you know if your teacher is “tickling your ears,” just telling you what you want to hear?
You won’t know the difference if you don’t spend time in God’s Word. Today we have podcasts, online videos, and many additional outlets making it possible to listen to the sermons of anyone who stands behind a pulpit on Sunday. It can be easy to base our faith on the teachings of a popular personality rather than on the teachings of Scripture. It makes me angry when I hear a Bible teacher distorting truth for what appears to be their own gain.
So how do we know if what we are hearing is God’s truth or a lie? All of us would do well to follow the example of the Bereans, who received Paul’s message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true (see Acts 17:11). The day we take for granted that those who teach us are doing so in a manner that’s faithful to the Scriptures is the day we open ourselves to deception and a faith built upon sand rather than the firm rock of God’s Word.
How are you doing with this, friend? Why not pick up your Bible and spend a few extra minutes praying and reading God’s Word before you move on with your day? If you can’t do it right now, I hope that you will sometime today. And I pray that you can attend a Links Fellowship somewhere this week, so you can talk about what you are learning.
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Marty Jacobus
August 27, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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