How well can you spot a liar? How well can you spot a pretender? Can you identify a person who has pulled the wool over someone’s eyes? Can you identify a person is attempting to fool you into believing they are someone they are not? Are you on your guard for these types of people?
We all know there are people who lie about many things. Some people seem to lie nearly every word they speak. We also know people who pretend to be someone they are not. They are attempting to fool people, and maybe us, into believing they are who they think we want them to be.
We have seen people in our workplaces who act one way when the boss is around and another when the boss is away. We may have experienced our immediate supervisor take credit for something we have done so as to gain a promotion.
How do we feel when we discover we are lied to or someone else is taking credit for our work? Generally, we are upset, angry, feel betrayed, frustrated, and may even feel helpless. What do we do when we discover the falseness? We may distance ourselves from that person or start looking for a new job.
Jesus warns His disciples to be on guard for false messiahs. They will attempt to lead us astray. They may even perform acts that appear to be miraculous. Their sole purpose is to lead us away from our faith in Jesus. They desire fame, fortune, and power. They desire to have a large following and control over those people.
How do we be on our guard? We need to know the Scriptures. We need to evaluate people critically, especially those who appear to be “to-good-to-be-true”. We need to seek counsel from someone close to us whom we trust. None of us know everything, but working together we can identify the pretenders and liars.
I pray we all are on our guard for pretenders. I pray we especially guard ourselves against those who will lead us away from Jesus. I pray each one of us seek to be knowledgeable about God’s Word. Be on guard. Identify falseness. Remove yourself from pretenders. Seek counsel from someone you trust. Know God’s Word. Hold on to your faith in Jesus.
Mark 13:21-23 “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.”
Marty Pressey 