Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.
Today we jump back into James, chapter 1. James has been instructing us about trials and testing. He then mentions the importance of believing in God if we want to receive anything from Him. Almost instantly he starts putting the “rich” in their place, and then he explains the difference between being tempted by our own desire and being tested by God. At this point, he takes a breath and says, “Don’t be deceived…”
This challenge he speaks of goes back to the original Fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 3) The one true thing that the Serpent said that day is that the result of eating the forbidden fruit would be the ability to know “good and evil.” (v 5) We can know evil, but we are not always able to discern the difference between good and evil. This blindness means we are vulnerable to being deceived.
Being deceived is thinking that a temptation came from God. James says that this is not possible. Yet how many people do you know who blame God for something that He did not do? On the other hand, we might be deceived about what is from God, thinking that it is just chance or the result of our own goodness.
Application: Don’t be deceived!
Food for Thought: What is one thing we can do that will help ensure we are not deceived?
One thing we can do is lean on our fellow brothers in Christ and we walk out daily walk. Too many people today try to be “Lone Ranger” Christians.
Rob
That is a great insight! Thank you!
I agree. Iron sharpens iron. Another thing we need to avoid is our own desire to be deceived. We do what we want. Jeremiah 17:9 and Psalm 139:24 are good reminders.
I agree with both of these comments. And as JEC points out, sometimes we want to be deceived because it aligns with our preferences but not necessarily the truth. We want the truth to be a certain way and so we are predisposed to a position and may not be as open to looking at our position critically or Gods word objectively.