Don't be Fooled!

Colossians 2:8-10 text based on

When I was growing up, a group of young people would stand and look up at the sky, one might point and the others nod in agreement, drawing an innocent person into their crowd to look and see what was worthy of their attention. They might spend seconds to minutes convincing you something was there, when in fact, it was a practical joke and nothing was there at all. They would bust out in laughter as you were labeled foolish by this group and felt foolish because you fell for their joke.

This is a good way to describe some of the religions here on earth today born from people not of God. Oh, they give you a good talk about faith, and they point you in a direction that leads absolutely no where. Foolish people continue to follow and worship this nothing of a religion and the leader who prides himself as being godly.

If we aren’t careful, we as Christians can be fooled into looking for something that isn’t there when we try to add various beliefs to our Christianity that God never intended to be part of our faith. We have all warned our children at some time or another to be careful, don’t believe everything you hear. Some of us continue to warn our kids today even though they are adults. Paul gives us a warning in Colossians 2 verse 8 and it begins with BEWARE. He was warning the Colossians because false teachings were in the area and he wanted them to take heed as they were in danger of being drawn away from the true faith.

We as Christians should understand the wisdom God gives us and recognize these false religions for what they are and warn others to not participate with their antics. Much like you would warn the next person who came along and began looking up to see what the group of youngsters were looking and pointing at. You don’t want someone else to be fooled, so warn them! Don’t be fooled by false teachers, false philosophy and false religion! Our God is good and His word is true!

Lukewarm or Fervent are You Fence Sitting?

While studying for this week’s bulletin story, I ran across a interesting topic discussing the Bible times and our consideration that those times were of greater faith and Christianity than what we have here today. It referenced Revelation 3:15-16. John the Apostle writes, Jesus saying to the church of Laodicea, “I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” Jesus tells the church of Laodicea this because they had lost their fervency for Him as their Savior. The world had crept in around them and they began to do some fence sitting.

Fence sitting? You mean like, not choosing sides, not stating what you believe in? Trying to stay in the middle and not make waves? Jesus called a church lukewarm because they allowed themselves to get to that point He could not tolerate them anymore. He couldn’t let them go on being called a church of His so He states clearly that He was going to spew them out for their lukewarmness.

Surely that speaks of today’s current society not from years ago in the Bible? The cares of the world, the desires of the flesh, the needs and the pressures of family, and the demands of society entice many to sit on the fence and not make a stance. It is obvious as it was back then, that we are in a time of compromise as well. The nature of man has not changed much over the years has it? Lukewarmness is all around us. Perhaps you see it in yourself, your children or co-workers who claim to be Christian. Maybe your spouse isn’t living up to the standard of God’s word, or maybe, it is you.

The real question here is not what others are doing for Christ, but instead what am I doing? What am I willing to do for my Savior? Am I lukewarm? Am I fence sitting? Am I stagnant in my faith? We are all called to carry our cross for Christ and to pick up where the previous generation of faithful Christians left off. We are to be fervent for Him.