Beware the Lie

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (NKJV)
⁹  The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
¹⁰  and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
¹¹  And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
¹²  that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

I have often wondered how people could believe the big lie.  The lie that is described in 2 Thessalonians gives us some insight into the way people think.  My first real notice of peoples' ability to believe things that were not true and could never be true was an observation of my middle child at around five years of age.  I noticed that he paid a great deal of attention to a pair of tennis shoes that were advertised on TV.  He would watch as the man wearing these "amazing" shoes would be able to jump at great heights.  He was impressed and began to ask us for a pair of those shoes.  We knew that he needed some new tennis so we took him to the store and he walked around until he found the exact pair as those advertised.  He asked for them.  We located his size and he eagerly put them on.  He didn't attempt to jump immediately but as soon as we exited the store, he made this effort to jump.  I saw the disappointment settle on his face.  He did not jump any higher than normal.  He could not believe that these shoes did not have the magic properties that he expected.  I told him, "You cannot believe everything you see on TV."

  

With that said, I repeat you cannot believe everything you see, read and hear today.  We as a society have been programmed to accept as truth so many things especially our news.  For years as a child, my parents dutifully watched the news.  They trusted the news casters to be telling them truth.  My father and mother read the newspapers and tried to stay informed about what was going on in the world.  They have both gone on to be the Lord today.  Were they living now, they would be horrified as I am that people still believe that what they see and hear on TV news in the absolute truth.  My parents taught us to question things, yet even they did not question what they saw on network programming as being possibly inaccurate until they were in their fifties.  After and during Vietnam, many people awakened to the reality that our news was often biased.  Today, it is not only biased but divisive.  It is nearly impossible to actually get an accurate story unless you read a news blog from another country, like Britain.  Propaganda flows like a river and we just drink it in and trust it like we would trust our Bible.  That is to our peril.  When we get to the place where we simply think that all that is said is true we are in a dangerous place.

We need to be people who do not just believe what is said on our favorite news channel but people who actually use the intellect that God gave us and question what is being said.  I have wondered how society will explain the absence of hundreds of thousands of people who are taken when Christ returns for His church.  It is easy to see how that will go today because of people's propensity to believe whatever they are told. What is it about a lie that makes is so easy for us to believe them?  Is there something inside of us that causes us to be naive and trusting?  I think of how the Iraq war was started.  We were lied into that war by people who knew how to use propaganda to its fullest.  I am sure that we have been lied to about many things but the selling of the war was a masterpiece.  As Collin Powell sat before the United Nations and described the great threat that Sadam Hussein was to our world, we hung on his every word.  All of it was a lie and we for the most part believed it.  Be wary of those who claim to tell you the truth about things when in reality they are just sowing lies.  Question what you hear.  Listen to many different sources.  Don't just listen to the things that you want to hear and believe.  It is a dangerous mistake to shut out truth just because you don't like it.

We are primed to receive the "big lie".  We have allowed lying to bring about a great rift in our society.  We have decided that we know what is best for everyone and are absolutely unwilling to listen to real truth.  Christ said, "I am the way, the truth and the life."  "The truth" is what Christ called Himself.  He is the truth and He is the only one that we can believe.  Why do you think the Holy Spirit warned us of the lie?  He wanted us to know that we could be pulled into it without realizing that we were stepping off of a cliff.  Anything that sets itself up to divide us needs to be looked at closely.  There was a time when we could converse about such matters without the terrible wall of hatred and anger that now exists.  As a society, we are at the point of collapse because of our unwillingness to even try to work together.  Each individual has decided to believe "the lie" and this belief is reinforced day after day as we pick our favorite channel on TV.  Think for yourself.  Ask God to reveal truth to you.  Just because someone claims to be on God's side doesn't mean that they are.  

If you want to be innocent in that which is evil, you need to be wise in that which is good.  Truth is always good. We need to study it, preach it, believe it and share it.  This is not our truth but God's truth.  The day and hour of name calling is over.  We need to step up to the plate and make a declaration of whose side we are on.  I for one am on God's side and His side only.  I always believe that you should be on the winning team.  I will be one of those hundreds of thousands that will go when God calls.  We need to walk in truth not just on Sunday but everyday of our lives.  Jesus is the truth.  He needs to be our standard.  We need to listen to many different voices when it comes to our news.  We need to listen to only one voice when it comes to our faith.  Jesus is the truth.  He taught us to love one another.  Are we walking in love?  He taught us to do good to one another.  Are we doing good?  He taught us to obey God's commandments.  Are we obeying?  Beware of those who come to you in sheep's' clothing for inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  If only God would open our eyes and let us see what is really going around us, our world would be a different place.  And that my friend is the real truth.