Week 14 Day 1 Devotions
Health Warning
“Watch out for false prophets” Matthew 7:15
Depending on which translation of the Bible you read the following words are used in this verse: Watch out, Beware, Be Wary, Be on Your Guard. Nowadays we are getting more used to health warnings being printed on various items that have been medically proven to be dangerous to one's health. In some places there is the added protection of not only placing a warning but also preventing the sale of such items to people under a certain age. These things have happened because people have become more aware of the absolute danger that some products are to one's well-being and so governments have taken it upon themselves to warn their citizens. This is indeed commendable. The degree to which people respond to the warnings is another subject.
Nearly two thousand years ago Jesus warned us about false prophets. He makes it clear that they are severely hazardous to our well-being, a danger to our spiritual health. Long lasting and detrimental effects may be caused by this product. If only false prophets came with such a warning stamped on their foreheads, but they don't. This does not mean that we need live in fear of false prophets and their teaching. In Scripture we have been given a very useful resource to help us in the discerning process. Furthermore when we seek the illumination of the Holy Spirit into our discerning process we bring a light from which all darkness must flee. Our part is to humbly realise that there are false prophets out there, which is why Jesus warned us about them, and therefore to be on the lookout for them. Stairs are only dangerous when you are not on the lookout for them, but when you are looking out for them you will see them, judge them and deal with them appropriately.
In the context of the Sermon on the Mount (and the whole of the New Testament) a false prophet is anyone who would claim that there is another way to the Father other than Jesus Christ and that there is another way to live other than the way that Jesus teaches in His Sermon on the Mount. Look out for false prophets (and for stairs).
Into a world of ruffians sent,
I walk on hostile ground;
Wild human bears on slaughter bent,
And ravening wolves surround. (301)
