Mark 13:3-8

“Then Jesus began to say to them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, “I am he!” and they will lead many astray.’” vss. 5-6

We would do well to heed the warning that Jesus gave to his disciples, “Beware that no one leads you astray,” but it’s so hard to tell who the deceivers are. We live in a time when truth itself has been called into question, and people have become adept at misleading others. It’s really hard to tell who the truth-tellers are. Sometimes people we have learned to trust reveal themselves as holding contrary opinions. And what’s even worse are those times when we discover that we’ve been the deceivers all along, and that the people we’ve been disagreeing with are actually right! Because deception has become so commonplace it’s important for believers to sort out those things which are beyond doubt. These are the truths that we hold most dear and that we will use as the guiding principles of our lives. They could be basics like “Jesus is the source of unconditional sacrificial love and in him I find forgiveness and life,” or “The world is both good and broken.” It just might be that things get a lot worse in the decades to come, and that there will be wars and insurrections even in our own country. We just can’t foretell the future–but we can prepare ourselves for anything by holding fast to those things we know to be true.

Thought for the Day: What do I know to be true, beyond a doubt?