Deceived?

Mark 13 1-8 v 5 “Be careful not to let anyone deceive you. Many will come using my name. They will say “I am he”, and they will deceive many people.”

Jesus was leaving the temple with his disciples. As they were leaving the courtyard the disciples said,” look at these stones and beautiful buildings”. Instead of looking at Jesus they were distracted by their surroundings and overawed by the beautiful man made buildings. On the mount of olives, they had many questions and wanted to know the end game. Jesus warns that many will be distracted by others claiming to be Him.

Some years ago, a local insurance agent took money from his clients and left the country. People were left without the savings they had put aside for their retirement. The people deceived by this person were devastated not just by the loss of their money but because “he seemed so nice”. Another friend recently was part of a telephone scam and had money taken from her bank account in an instant before she realized what was going on.

In all parts of our lives we must be careful not to be distracted by people who are nice on the outside but do not have the heart for God on the inside. We must in all we do including spiritually be careful to be on guard for those who deceive us.

Prayer: Almighty God, help us to not be distracted from your path and deceived by others who do not follow your teachings in all we do today. Amen