Knock Offs

Several years ago my daughter went to New york and bought me a great Christmas gift - a fake Kate Spade bag. I loved it! About the same time I had quit my job to go into full time ministry. At a Bible study I was attending I gave a prayer request - my husband and I were financially strapped. We were having to live minus my income. We needed God to supply our needs. One evening at a Wednesday night church supper I saw my prayer buddies. As I sat down with them to eat (having set my Kate Spade bag beside me) I kept noticing their glances to the bag and then one another. At last one lady spoke up and asked if my husband and I were so strapped financially why was I buying designer purses. I chuckled and explained. First it was a gift and second it was a knock off. Shock covered the faces of the women who were fooled by the knock off.
People are fooled by knock offs every day. Knock off purses seem innocent enough but generally the makers are dealing in illegal activity. Knock off drugs can end up harming people and some are even deadly. So it is with knock off religions.
"In the beginning was the Word...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...grace and truth came through Jesus Christ...that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life..." This is the Gospel of John in a nutshell. This is the real deal. Any knock off is deadly to the soul of man. The peddler of any knock off is guilty of a spiritual crime - perverting the Truth. People are easily fooled by knock off teachers and knock off teachings. Many are led astray. Why? People are not familiar enough with the Truth. They can't spot the fake, the twisted, the perverted brand that is harmful to their living and even their eternal destiny. To recognize a fake, a phony, a counterfeit, you must first know what is real, authentic, and true.
Live and abide in the words from John 8:32, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."