READING: Ezekiel 37-39, 2 Peter 2
“But there were also false prophets among the people. . . .”
2 Peter 2:1
To be honest, today’s reading is a little disconcerting to me. I know that the enemy has sought to promote false teaching since he first lured Adam and Eve into sin in the Garden of Eden. He has always sought to turn people away from the Word, sometimes by subtle, almost imperceptible shifts away from truth. He’s smart enough to know that many subtle shifts can turn an entire ship in the wrong direction.
Peter warned believers of that strategy, too. False teachers had arisen and would continue to arise in the church, but they would do so quietly; they would “secretly bring in destructive heresies” (2 Pet. 2:1). Somehow, their quiet deception would lead to denying Christ, living in “unrestrained ways” (2 Pet. 2:2), and exploiting others “in their greed with deceptive words” (2 Pet. 2:3). They would claim to be Christian, but they would bring into the church sexual sin, idolatrous greed, and false teaching. The result would ultimately be “their condemnation” (2 Pet. 2:3).
What is disconcerting to me is just how easily false teachers and false teaching can infiltrate the church. The subtlety with which the enemy works, coupled with the reality that many believers haven’t been discipled enough to recognize his lies, makes the church quite vulnerable to his deception. He moves into the church not always with the blare of the trumpet, however, but with the silence of the slithering snake. The undiscipled, unaware, uninformed church is a prime—and often easy—target.
That’s one reason why we must take time to read and think every day about the Word of God: we surely do not want to be deceived, nor do we want to deceive.
ACTION STEPS:
- Thank God for His Word—and for His helping you to continue to read and love His Word.
- Pray that your church’s leaders would always be alert to any false teachings infiltrating the church.
PRAYER: “God, help me not to be deceived by false teaching.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Ezekiel 40-41, 2 Peter 3