Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Can a little deception accomplish great good?
John 13:27
The tricky thing about deception – it doesn’t happen when I’m thinking about it.
I wonder, when Jesus said to Judas, “what you do, do quickly” if Satan had so convinced Judas that this was the right thing to do that Judas actually felt good about his betrayal? I wonder if, when Jesus acknowledged his plot, if Judas believed he was part of some grand plan to usher in the reign of Messiah, and that somehow he was called to a special task that was part of God’s plan to save the world? Well, he was, but certainly not in the way he thought.
Lord, how easily we are deceived. It scares me to see how quickly I could become convinced that wrong is right; that a little bit of deception could accomplish a great deal of good. This helps me see how, more than ever, and more than I could ever realize, I need Your strong presence in my mind and actions this very day – to keep me from deception. Help me, Jesus, to know Your voice so well that the voice of a stranger I will not follow.
Sure I could say “I’m a Christian, of course I’ll recognize the right voice.” Yet, when I see what Christians have done in Your name and how mighty Christian leaders have fallen, I know I’m not immune from self-deception. Please, dear God, keep me from that. Protect me from my own self-deception. Deliver me from evil, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
The tricky thing about deception – it doesn’t happen when I’m thinking about it.
I wonder, when Jesus said to Judas, “what you do, do quickly” if Satan had so convinced Judas that this was the right thing to do that Judas actually felt good about his betrayal? I wonder if, when Jesus acknowledged his plot, if Judas believed he was part of some grand plan to usher in the reign of Messiah, and that somehow he was called to a special task that was part of God’s plan to save the world? Well, he was, but certainly not in the way he thought.
Lord, how easily we are deceived. It scares me to see how quickly I could become convinced that wrong is right; that a little bit of deception could accomplish a great deal of good. This helps me see how, more than ever, and more than I could ever realize, I need Your strong presence in my mind and actions this very day – to keep me from deception. Help me, Jesus, to know Your voice so well that the voice of a stranger I will not follow.
Sure I could say “I’m a Christian, of course I’ll recognize the right voice.” Yet, when I see what Christians have done in Your name and how mighty Christian leaders have fallen, I know I’m not immune from self-deception. Please, dear God, keep me from that. Protect me from my own self-deception. Deliver me from evil, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Labels: deceive, deception, self-deception
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