Scams

Not a single day passes by that I don’t find a letter in my mailbox stating the following; I am so and so and am living in XYZ, Africa and it is my dying wish to support your ministry for the sum of $2,000,000.00 if you will only send me your bank account and . . . .

Yesterday’s letter was the winner. An American General wished to share with me his “loot” while serving in Iraq. He called himself a Staff General and as far as I know, there is no such rank in the US Army. The closest rank would be a Staff Sergeant.

Scams come in sizes large and small, the promise of a free iphone , a brand new camping trailer and a trip for two around the world or that nasty Mandarin lady saying: “This is your final notice from UPS, telling you that you have an unclaimed parcel”. Never mind I was reminded over and over again that “If it is too good to be true, than probable it is.”. These scams however, glisten in a way that somehow I can not shake when placed before me.

I too have fallen for some scams and probably will fall for some more along the way. The promise of a free iphone, a bogus service contract to have my computer setup right and solve all my IT problems. They are just too attractive to turn down and I will say to myself “Maybe today is my lucky day!”.

“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ” Philippians 3:8

Satan knows me very well, and he knows things that I have yet to consider to be a “loss”, those little shiny objects, things that glisten in the light, things that I cannot live without. He works overtime to scam me, to distract me and divert my attention to all these things.

Being aware of his dirty tricks each day in my life, my prayer is to ask the Lord to help me to turn my attention to things that are from above and things that He reminds me of in these words: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these things shall be given unto you . . .”.

Shalom and may God be with you