We live in a world where it is hard to tell the real thing from the fake. There are knock-offs for almost everything. Once a new product or design hits the market, those looking to cash in on the latest, greatest, go to work to make a copy. It is not the “real deal,” but many will be fooled by it. We always want people to think the best of us and some will go to great lengths to make a good impression on others. Some hire a publicist to create a certain image for them. In 2019 alone, 16.7 billion dollars was spent on cosmetic surgery in America. Being fake has become fashionable. We live in a world where fake has become more popular than real.
While billions are spent trying to fool people there is one who knows us completely. There is no fooling God. In John 2:24-25, Jesus would not put confidence or trust in any man, because He knew the heart of man.
John 2:24-25 “But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.”
He knew the multitude mostly was following Him because they wanted to see another miracle. They could easily be turned against Him by the Jewish leaders. He knew their motive for following Him. He alone had the right to know man and judge man, because He was God in the flesh and He made man. No one can deceive Him.
John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”
In Romans 3:10-12, Paul makes it very clear that no one is inherently good. The Jews and Gentiles alike have sought their own way, and none have kept the law perfectly and met God’s standard.
Romans 3:10-12 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
In Matthew12:34, the mouth is an indicator of the heart. The tongue is full of cursing, uncleanness, destruction, and deceit, and our activities coincide with our words. Romans 3:15-18 reveals the way they are thinking, and the result is a lack of fear of God. Paul is quoting Psalm 36:1 when he says there is no fear of God before their eyes. It has well been stated the eyes are the window to the soul.
Matthew 12:34 “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
Romans 3:15-18 “Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
We may dress up the outside and think we are well and good, but we will not fool God. Some have played the “game” of being a Christian so long that they have deceived themselves, but they are still guilty before God. He sees the heart and knows all that is within it.
Check your own heart. Are there areas where you have been fooling yourself? Do you compare yourself to other Christians, instead of our standard Jesus Christ, thinking you are ok? When you feel convicted over something you read in the Bible or hear in a message, do you quickly put your mind elsewhere to avoid dealing with your own sin? If your answer to any of these questions is yes and you are not seeking to change, you are fooling yourself into thinking you are ok. A continuation of this can cause you to become deceived about yourself. The worst part about being deceived is that when you are deceived, you don’t know it. If you did you wouldn’t be deceived!
