Skip to main content

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. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Grazi and Cris Are Getting Baptized!

Graziele / Cris Grazilele (hard to pronounce if you are not a Brazilian) and Cris are getting baptized on Saturday night. Baptism is a big step of faith and these young ladies are ready. Grazi accepted the Lord several years ago when Company C was in it's infancy. She was invited to club by a friend, who has since left, and not long afterwards she opened her heart to the Savior. She is a determined twelve going on twenty year old. When Grazi sets her mind on a task she usually gets it done. Dawn has been teaching her Bible lessons and sewing skills recently and she's noted Grazi's abilities. Grazi plays the recorder in o ur orchestra. Cris is Alexandre's youngest sister. She accepted Christ when her older sister Dani shared her own personal decision a few years back. Cris always has a smile on her face and is a ready helper too. She is quiet but gifted. She is learning to play the violin and is also a part of our growing orchestra. Both of these gi...
2 comments
Read more

God Made Clothes

And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. Gen 3:21 I have always heard the following explanation of this verse.  Because Adam and Eve had sinned, they died spiritually. They also lost the right to be in the Garden of Eden and were cursed in other ways. For example, they had made clothes out of fig leaves, but God sacrificed a lamb; thus, God shed blood and made clothes. This sacrifice of an innocent lamb symbolized what Jesus Christ would do in the distant future.  Is this what you have heard? I don't know; it seems like this interpretation is stretching what Moses wrote in the above text. The text says that  God made clothes for Adam and his wife from skins.  We see no blood, we don't know what kind of skins, nor can I imagine God making an animal sacrifice. Did God have to skin animals to make these clothes? Or could he have just made them like he had everything else in the universe just a little while earlier?  To th...
Post a Comment
Read more