The Plumb Line

 "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." 1 John 4: 1-3

    My dad taught me how to hang wallpaper. If not prepped properly, all the work is for naught, so he fished from his pocket a plumb line. Unwrapping string from around a metal bob, he expertly ran it through a ball of blue chalk, then held the end up high on the wall and gave it a snap. This made a straight line to begin with so my paper wasn't crooked and off kilter.

    My father also gave me sound advice spiritually. "When you attend a church, always check their statement of beliefs," he told me. "If they do not say that Jesus Christ is God, then they are going down the wrong road. Do not listen to them." 

    As I have walked through life, I have learned of folks who may have been reared in loving homes, but they were being taught false doctrine. Recently, I listened to a very educated man who was raised in a strict Muslim home. Prayers five times a day. Dutiful recitations from the Quran. Daily rituals such as stepping over a threshold with the left foot, never the right. His parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were all very devout Muslims, so he was following that tradition.

    However, in college he began to test the spirits, wrestling with truth for years before he became a Christian at great personal cost. As firmly as his family believed their religion, they had no plumb line because they did not recognize Jesus as God. It's sad.

    God gave me the opportunity to speak with a young lady at work yesterday who, in search for truth, approached me with questions. I counted it all joy to be able to plant some seeds in her heart as I encouraged her to prayerfully read the Scriptures for herself, asking God to reveal Himself to her. Then I quoted John 14:6 before we parted company. Please join me in prayer for Maria.

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" John 14:6