Don't Be Deceived

Last week I spent the week fishing on Oak Island with my family. When we are able to slip off for vacation at Spring Break we try our best to go fishing. This last week was no exception. We enjoyed good weather and we were able to spend time together as a family doing something we all enjoy. Fishing off a pier like we were doing requires a different setup than fishing in a pond or river. You need a rig to hold your line in place so the bait doesn't move with the current. Most of the time the three or four ounce sinker weights are enough to keep your bait where you want it. The funny thing about these weights is they can be a bit deceiving. It is funny to watch kids as you reel up your rod, knowing their isn't anything on your hook, they can't help but ask "Do you have something?" as they see your rod bending under the weight of the sinker. The only thing funnier than the kids asking this question is when you reel in your line to check your bait and you find a small fish on your line that you had no idea was even on there. One other amusing aspect of this is when you catch a small fish, like the one mentioned above, and you try to pass if for a whopper of a fish. All you have to do is hold fish between you and the camera and the fish seems much larger than it really is. My youngest son tried to make a 4 inch fish look like a 2 foot fish by doing this.

These deceptions are a perception problem that leaves us deceived. We are deceived into thinking we have something when it isn't there. Or we are deceived into thinking nothing is there when it really is. Or we are deceived into thinking something is much larger than it really is. These types of perception deceptions bleed through into our spiritual lives as well. We can be deceived in many different ways by our adversary, Satan, who is known as the "father of lies" (John 8:44) and the one "who leads the whole world astray" (Revelation 12:9). One of the more difficult deceptions we deal with is when he convinces us that our small fish of a problem is the size of a whale. Satan's ultimate goal in these instances is to get your attention off of God and on to your problems. The reason he wants to make a mountain out of a mole hill is because if he can you won't be worshiping and glorifying God like God designed you to do. If Satan can get your focus on your problems rather than God, then you will live a defeated life where you live in your own power trying to solve your problems. Satan knows that if your focus stays on God then you can be victorious over anything he and this world throws at you.

One final perception deception Satan tries to use on you is one like the sinker weight hiding the small fish on the hook. It is the idea that something doesn't seem to be there but it really is. Satan pulls this same deception with sin. He tries to get you to justify and rationalize your sin. If he can convince you that your sin is culturally normal or accepted by society, then you won't see it as sin, even if God's Word speaks against it. What happens with this deception is you grow spiritually desensitized towards your sin, you no longer view it as sin, and it causes you to become less sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading in your life. With this type of deception Satan is able to further distance us from God by using our own sin to lure us away from God.

The best advice to give you on not being deceived by the perception deceptions Satan uses is the counsel of two men dead for nearly two millennia. The apostle Peter said it best when he wrote these words, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8, NIV). Other translations say be vigilant, as in not letting your guard down, because Satan is on the prowl and he is out to harm you. If you want to protect yourself from these perception deceptions, then you need to be spiritually on guard, 24/7/365. You cannot take a moments rest from spiritual vigilance or Satan will pounce like a lion on a wounded gazelle. The other man who gives great counsel on this is the half-brother of Jesus. His name was James. He wrote something as well that is a good way not to be deceived by Satan. James wrote that we ought to "submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:7-8, NKJV). By submitting ourselves to God through prayer, bible study, worship, and service we are able to more easily resist the devil and draw closer to God. When we do so, we find that we are closer to God and He is closer to us, and Satan's deceptions can be seen for what they truly are, lies. Follow the counsel of these two wise men from another time and don't be deceived.


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