Counterfeit or not

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers[a] of this world, rather than from Christ.  For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.  So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. (Colossians 2:8-10 NLT)

Have you ever been duped? In some situations it is easier to be deceived or cheated, isn't it? The less you really know about something, the easier it is for someone to convince you what they are saying is correct. The more you know, the harder it is for someone to tell you something that isn't true. Yet, there are times when our "know" doesn't match what we "show" or "do". We still get "duped" somehow! Just how does this happen when we have the knowledge? Shouldn't that be nearly impossible? Not really, for knowledge is only "head deep" sometimes and never really gets into practical application - we know the truth, but it isn't "at work" in us.

There is a tell-tale sign of being duped - we somehow end up being offered a "counterfeit" to the real and we actually buy it! It really doesn't matter to us that it is counterfeit, for we are more concerned with how it looks than we are about how it really performs! In life, the things that "dupe" us are those things that help us present a good front, but they lack the ability to change how we think or respond - they lack the truth to give us true freedom. There are a variety of "good fronts" we can each display, but the counterfeit only goes so far - eventually the truth will reveal our true character!

Some see the one who is duped as an "easy mark" - simply because they don't take the time to test what it is they are being told - making it easy to convince them they are making the right choice. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is take time before one acts upon a certain idea or choice of direction in life, but it is that "up front" decision that makes the destination all that more determined in our lives. Either we take the time to choose wisely, or we run the very real risk that the destination will only have a "false front" for what is really at the end of the road when we follow that false direction. 

The Greek statesman Demosthenes said it this way: "A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." We can believe a whole lot of things - influencing what we will "do" when presented with anything that even vaguely resembles whatever it is we believe. Surround yourself with truth, immerse your thoughts in the Word of God, and you will be less likely to accept what merely "resembles" truth! Just sayin!

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