Cleverly Devised Tales

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Scripture

For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
(2 Peter 1:16 NASB)

 

Observation


Peter was letting the people know the value of his testimony. He lived in a day and age where there were people who were trained as great speakers of rhetoric. They would entertain crowds with their amazing speaking abilities and debate with other people with similar skills. But Peter was saying that this was not the case with his own personal life. He was not following after people who had a great ability and/or charisma to speak, but instead he had personally known Jesus Christ. He was an eyewitness to the majesty and power of Christ in the world and there was nothing that would sway him otherwise.

 

Application


Today we have television which is filled with numerous preachers who are trying to sway people to their way of thought. They have cleverly devised tales and use their powers of rhetoric to try and make us believe one way or another. There are prophets from all religions and they are using every source of media available to sway people to their way of thinking. Sadly it's not just other religions but also those who profess to be Christians (but have some odd form of us) who are trying to sway us as well. They have cleverly devised tales -- they make us "feel good" and tell us that God is going to make everything in our lives honkey dorey. Things didn't end up so honkey dorey for the true followers of Christ. Tradition tells us that Peter ended up crucified upside down.
How can one discern that the message is true? We, too, must be eyewitnesses to the truth and we can be through a personal walk and relationship with Christ. In the intimacy of our time with him we discover that we, too, become personal witnesses to who he is. This also means that we need to seek out spiritual leaders and guides who have become personal witnesses of Christ. Sometimes they are not the most persuasive speakers, but that becomes unimportant when we see Christ shining forth in their lives. We need these kinds of leaders who reflect Jesus Christ in their lives and these, we can follow. Those who can come up with cleverly devised tales -- I'm not so sure that we can trust!

 

Prayer


Lord, please help me to be discerning in my life -- seeking you -- and learning from those who have genuinely humbled themselves at your feet. Amen.

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