Scam!

 Scams are inviting and enticing. They promise you one thing and deliver another thing. You hear an enticing story only to discover later that the tale wasn't quite what it seemed. 

Years ago, I was taken by something similar to a scam. Though the game was legitimate and promoted by a famous cracker company, it left me with a taste of deception in my mouth. It went like this. 

Each box of crackers had one or more words of the following phrase inside the box, "Win $10,000 a month for life!" Like I mentioned, if you completed the sentence, you got the cash. It sounded SO GOOD! 

My mom had bought a scam and didn't know about it. As mentioned, it was a legitimate competition, but I had overthought about the winning phrase. I assumed that that combination would be "For Life!" 

We were into our second box of crackers when I saw that fantastic phrase stamped on the inside bottom of the container. My jaw dropped, my eyes glazed over, and my heart raced, and I suddenly had an insatiable hunger for crackers! 

I ran to the store and bought TEN boxes of the delicious morsels. I had no appetite for crackers; I just wanted ten grand a month for life as I tore the boxes open and ripped the plastic sacks from them to see the other parts of the "Win $10,000 a month for life!" key to my happiness. 

At about box number eight, my hopes were dashed as I saw the words "For Life!" once again. There and then, I learned a great lesson. Scams, whether real or not, have a way of fooling you so much that you can't see the truth. 

I imagine that this is kind of how Joshua and crew felt as the Gibeonites told their tale of whoa. They were a nation in the path of destruction as the children of Israel's army approached. They were afraid and too small to fight, so they made up a whopper of a story to avoid pending elimination. 

You can read the account in Joshua 9. The text is a mere twenty-seven verses, but the lesson is this, always ask God for his direction. Don't depend on your understanding (Proverbs 3:5,6 come to mind). Even though the treaty was foolish and made without consulting God, he still provided the victory. However, there were consequences to pay in the future. So, trust the Lord with all of your heart and don't lean on what you think. As you do, God will guide every step.