Don’t be deceived

Jeremiah 9: 4-6

Beware of your friends, do not trust your brothers.  For every brother is a deceiver, every friend a slanderer.  Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth.  They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning.  You live in the midst of deception;  in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me, declares the Lord.  NIV

These are hard verses.

But, at their core is the repetition of the recipe for not worrying.

Don’t trust anyone but God.  Acknowledge Him as the source of all good things.

That being said, these verses still are very hard to read.

In their deceit, they refuse to acknowledge me, declares the Lord.

Last night, we had dinner with some friends.  It was a delightful evening.  At one point, one of the men reminded us of an old saying, “You can fool all of the people some of the time; and some of the people all of the time; but, you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”

Those who refuse to acknowledge God are being fooled.  They are, perhaps, deceiving themselves.  But, those who trust them and look up to them, like their children, have a high likelihood of being fooled as well.  They … live in the midst of deception.

God is important.  He made all things.  By His grace, you draw each breath.  By His provision, you have hands to reach out and help others, you have eyes to see their pain, and ears to hear their requests.

God created you.  He made you for a purpose.  He has a plan for your life and He delights in YOU.

Don’t be deceived.

That’s what I’ll think about today.