Take A Closer Look

It was one of the most stressful times in my life, not one I would ever want to repeat. My stomach was twisted in knots and I broke out in an angry red rash. I tried hard not to touch my neck, the rawest most inflamed.  It itched like mad so made this difficult. I found myself repeatedly using lotion in an attempt to find relief. Stress comes out in funny ways.

The rash went on for nearly a week. I was embarrassed to go out in public. I found an old turtle neck sweater to help hide my now completely raw and near bleeding neck. My family was concerned about my physical and mental well-being, as well they should have been.

Nearly a week in, while rubbing lotion into my sorely chapped and inflamed skin, my eyes fell upon my bottle of “lotion” and I read the words BODY WASH! The palm of my hand hit my forehead and I began to laugh. Yes, stress may have been causing my rash, but not in the way I thought it had. For years I had used the same brand of lotion. In my haste I had failed to see one little word “wash”, the only difference in packaging between the body lotion and the body wash.

The Christian walk is a lot like shopping for personal care items. Satan is the master of deception, the father of lies (John 8:44). For every good gift that God has given us there is sure to be a counterfeit. The only way we can be certain not to grasp the wrong “bottle of lotion” is to dig deep into God’s Word and read the “labels.” It’s not enough just to accept things because they may look right, or seem right–we need to make sure.

“Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world (1 John 4:1 NLT).” “The Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. (1 Timothy 4:1 NLT).” “However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth… (John 6:13 NLT).”