Food for Friday

And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. Colossians 2:4

The lady with the pretty little girl gave me a friendly smile, and held up a colourful pamphlet. She quoted a verse from the Psalms and began gushing about how wonderful it is that God has rich blessings for us. I didn’t let her get any further, but raised my voice and ordered her off my property and told her to never come back. Her approach and her words were enticing, but her pamphlets were labelled by the Watchtower Society and could contain nothing but damnable heresies. If I could, I would have ordered her off the street, because I was concerned that her enticing ways might beguile some of our neighbours. Just as Paul was concerned that false teachers would beguile the Christians in Colosse. And that false teachers would beguile you and me.

Make no mistake, there are plenty of enticing words being peddled today, all with the goal of beguiling people who are not prepared to refute them. A wise person onetime said if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything. And that seems to be the case today. As our education systems refuse to teach moral values to our children, the children become easy targets for the enticing words of those who would lead them into immorality, drugs, and crime. Environmentalists use their pretty words about saving our planet to entice folks into fighting against a global warming that is not happening and cannot happen. Islam hides behind its pretense to serve the same God as us to lure people into its slavery, brutality, and repression. The cults flood communities with their so-called good works and friendliness to entice people into listening to their heretical doctrines. These things should not be a threat to anyone with a good foundation of Bible truth. But there are more subtle dangers that we need to be aware of.

Some of the evangelical denominations have developed ways to attract more young people to their churches. They have music, sports, and other programs that appeal to young folks, with lots of excitement and entertainment. We need to be aware that these things can entice our young people, leading them away from the truths of Scripture and the New Testament principles on which our Assemblies are based. Something that the denominations have apparently failed to notice is that while these programs bring in people, they fail to produce anything of lasting value, beyond filling the pews on Sundays. Their easy-believism conversions fail to generate true children, and so they constantly need to recruit to fill up the ranks of the backsliders and false professors. We need to keep in mind that our commission is to preach the Gospel, not to recruit members.

The Word of God is our protection against enticing words that would beguile us. Its protection is of value only if we know it and use it. – Jim MacIntosh

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