Test The Spirits
1 John 4:1: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."
It was a little before noon, in the hardwoods of central Kentucky, when I let out what I call the 'hello is anybody home' call. It is just a couple of loud cuts, followed by a loud four note yelp followed by silence while I wait for a gobbler's response. He almost instantly gobbled back and I gave him another loud excited yelp. In the next few seconds, I frantically looked for cover that would hide my silhouette but still allow me to see him coming. He needed to be in gun range before he knew he would be seeing the hen that he heard calling.
Well... my setup hid me well, but there was too much cover to see him coming in. Suddenly, there he was, at ten yards, there he was with his tail fanned out, strutting around while trying to impress this lonesome hen he had heard. As those lyrics to that 80s song say, he was “looking for love in all the wrong places”. He was a big beautiful Kentucky gobbler and he was one of my most memorable trophies. He had been deceived, and I was grinnin like a possum eatin a sweet potato.
The Bible has many verses about deception, warning against false prophets, emphasizing that evil men and imposters are deceivers. Satan is the master of deception and he employs others that are knowingly or unknowingly willing. There are many false teachers or false prophets that are putting out a false call that we must be aware and careful of.
2 Timothy 3:13 speaks of the false teachers: "While evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." Like when a turkey hunter puts out a “false call” of deception, evil people do their best to draw people away from the truth.
Jeremiah 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it."
The Scriptures tell us that Satan is disguised as something good, appearing as an angel of light. He blinds our minds to spiritual truth and distorts and creates division. His call might sound good and like the real thing, but it full of lies and we must use the discernment that God gives us so we don’t fall for the false call.
2 Corinthians 11:14: "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light."
Listen carefully to the call that you hear. A false call can pull us into a deadly situation. Follow the true call of God.
Written by Dean and Joel Raygor
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