A wolf in sheep's clothing

Matthew 7:15  (NIV)

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

Bubba took his girlfriend to dinner and a show recently in what we refer to as the "Big Apple", good old New York City.

Now, Bubba has been into the city numerous times, he's been in to see plays, skate at Rockefeller Center, have dinner in some of the finer restaurants, take in a ballgame at Yankee or Shea Stadium, etc. So the city is really nothing new to him.

Anyway, they were strolling down Seventh Ave. The other day when they came upon one of those con men running one of those shell games on the street. Bubba stopped for a minute and watched as the con man asked his customer under which cup the nut was.

The customer said he wasn't sure and Bubba proudly blurted out "it's under the middle one".

The con man said "you're right, you win" and he threw twenty dollars down on the table for Bubba . . .

The hook was baited and Bubba fell for it. Before Bubba finally walked away from that con man and his table Bubba had lost a hundred dollars. When he got home after the show and dinner still kicking himself for having fallen prey to the con man.

He thought to himself, I don't know why I fell for it, it all seemed so easy. I found that first nut without a problem and then I couldn't find it anymore."

As he contemplated the night he was reminded of something his Grandpa used to tell him . . . "Even a blind squirrel will find a nut every once in awhile".

After thinking about it Bubba had learned a lesson but it had cost him a hundred dollars in the process.

As I read this account it made me think about how Bubba had been deceived by the con man . . . How things weren't really as they had appeared to poor Bubba during that con game.

That got me to thinking . . . Thinking about all these so-called "prophets" who seem to be crawling out of the woodwork since the incidents on Sept. 11th. These "prophets" who claim they prophesized those events or what lies ahead for us. "Prophets" who have come out bragging about other so called "prophecies" of theirs that have come true.

Think about how these "prophets" are like the blind squirrel who finds a nut once in a while, because every once in a while one of their so-called prophecies appears to have come true from the way they explain it. In the meantime they are leading people astray, pulling them away from the Lord and into Satan's con game.

False prophets and false prophecy . . . Perhaps something for all of us to think about and beware of. Another great reason to read the Bible so we know the truth.

Dear Lord, in this world where there are false prophets give us the wisdom to know what is of You and what isn’t. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.