1546) Part of the job I have, teaching language arts, involves teaching kids the “truth” about the Wild, Wild Web; the internet. Yes, kids these days use electronics probably more than any of us do, but it does not mean they know how to prudently use it. So, to combat this “knowledge,” I teach the kids to check the credibility of websites, emails, etc. so they do not get caught in the web of the Web.

The words of 1 John 4:1 seem to teach us the same type of lesson. Here, John says not to believe every spirit. We are instructed to examine what these “spirits” are saying to see if they are of God or of false prophets.

Deceivers dish out so many things in our lives and newsfeeds. The more clever a deceiver gets, the harder it is to identify them. For example, how many of you have received emails that look very much like “real” ones but are, in fact, fake? Many people who are unaware of this fall for these false claims. I hate to see someone, particularly the elderly, get taken advantage of. We need to be careful whom we trust.

These days, it’s not prudent to give people we barely know or not at all the benefit of the doubt. We need to pray the Holy Spirit will open our eyes to these people so we can avoid disaster.