Something's Not Right

Growing Daily

Something’s Not Right

My husband and I are considering buying a piece of property. Over the past few weeks, we studied the survey, located boundary markers, and examined ten years of aerial photos on the county website. We even found geologic maps of the surrounding wetlands.

So when the realtor recently posted a photo that purported to show the property lines and a path cut through the woods to a nearby lake, we knew immediately it was fake. A beautifully appealing fake—but one that misrepresented the distance to the lake, the shoreline, and even existing shoreline structures.

Why could we spot the fake so easily? Because we had already studied the authoritative sources closely.

The same holds true when it comes to Scripture. The more immersed we are in the Truth, the easier it is to spot deception. Bible study is not just stockpiling knowledge. It’s hiding the Word in our hearts, so we’re less likely to fall into sin (Psalm 119:11). It’s grounding ourselves so we “won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching” or “influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like truth” (Ephesians 4:14).

So let’s be like the Bereans, who searched the Scriptures day after day to see if the message Paul was teaching was true (Acts 17:11).


- Catherine Reid