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Key Bible Verse: Now 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 teaching that come from demons (1 Timothy 4:1). Bonus Reading: Jude 1:12-13

The Greek word translated as "deceptive" in [today's Key Bible verse] is planos, the word from which our English word "planet" is derived. The ancient Greeks called those bright orbs deceivers. Why?

In ancient times, the navigators of ships knew that they could, with reliability, sight in on most stars to accurately determine their location and thereby sail the right course to their destination. They also learned that the "deceivers" (planoi)—the wandering stars—would only lead them to confusion or destruction if they tried to determine their position by them. They, of course, didn't know that those "stars" were actually planets that revolved around the sun.

It isn't difficult to see why the Holy Spirit stirred the apostle Paul to use this word to warn us about the demonic enterprises of these last days. We dare not take our directions from the no-such-thing-as-absolute-truth relativism of our culture's attitudes toward almost everything. And we would be wise to see the profound analogy between the erratic movement of a non-light-producing planet and the deceiving spirits of this world.

—Jack Hayford in The Anatomy of Seduction

My Response: Why is succumbing to deception often followed by moral compromise?

Thought to Apply: We are oftener deceived by being told some truth than none. —Fulke Greville (English courtier)

Adapted from The Anatomy of Seduction (Regal, 2004) by permission.

Copyright © 2009 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integritymagazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Lord, help me to so saturate my outlook with your Word that I readily spot whatever counters its teaching.

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