Articles
Tricky
Tricky
“A physics professor at Adelaide University in Australia, Sir Kerr Grant, used to illustrate a point by allowing a heavy ball suspended from the roof trusses to fall some 30 feet and be caught in a sand bucket. Each year the bucket was lined up meticulously to catch the ball -- and each year students secretly moved the bucket to one side, so that the ball crashed thunderously to the floor. Tiring of this rather stale joke, the professor traced a chalk line around the bucket. The students moved the bucket as usual, traced a chalk mark around the new position, rubbed it out and replaced the bucket in its original spot. ‘Aha!’ the professor explained, seeing the faint outline of the erased chalk mark. He moved the bucket over it and released the ball -- which thundered to the floor as usual” (D.G. Dewar, Reader's Digest).
Sometimes it is hard not to get tricked. While many tricks are harmless, like the one with the professor, others can be dangerous, especially when we are facing someone who is named, “the Deceiver” (Revelation 12:9). Satan wants so badly to trick us into making poor decisions. Perhaps one of the greatest ways he accomplishes such deceit is through the many different religious thoughts. Scripture only speaks of one true way (John 14:6) and one true faith (Ephesians 4:5). All the others miss the mark, equating themselves to the ball that thunderously crashed to the floor (Matthew 7:21-23).
There is only one way to keep ourselves from being deceived, check Scripture. God has given us every instruction we need to succeed with life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). He has personally breathed out all the words in Scripture so we can be properly taught, corrected, and equipped (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It is up to us to see how the different thoughts and religions measure up to the divine measuring tape of Scripture. Satan wants to deceive us, so be sure to fight back with the living and active sword of the spirit, the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17).
