Fake or real- how can you tell the difference?
Recently I was spotted to be wearing costume jewelry mixed with the real thing. How was this found out? Because the person who spotted it owned the real piece and was able to tell the difference. I wasn’t doing anything deceptive I just liked the pieces together.
I began to think about this and felt there was a message to share. God gives us little nuggets all of the time to ponder and with today’s scripture reading He took me further with this thought.
How can you tell a real friend from a counterfeit? Because you know what a real friend looks like. So what does a real friend look like?
Friend- ORIGIN Old English frēond, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vriend and German Freund, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘to love,’
A real friend is rooted in love!
In 2 Chronicles 10 The new King Rehoboam, King Solomon’s son, needed to make a critical decision- how to treat God’s people. For this decision he went to his childhood friends and his father’s trusted Elders for advice.
King Solomon’s council recommended compassion and support for the Israelites while King Rehoboam’s young friends encouraged submission through violence.
The King listened to his friends and the result was not one of uniting God’s people but of tearing them down and apart. King Rehoboam had grown up with these “friends”. Their recommendation was not looking out for the benefit of their friend the King. It was not of love for him or for the people of God but of evil and destruction.
The last recording in the Bible about the King is this..
But the final verdict on Rehoboam was that he was a bad king – God was not important to him; his heart neither cared for nor sought after God. 2 Chron 12:14
Even though God had His Master Plan at work I wonder if King Rehoboam had chosen the counsel from the Elders maybe things would have been different? So what can we learn from this story and costume jewelry?
The King did not have a relationship with God and he did not know what a true Friend looked like. He had not let God build up the foundation of truth in his life so when it came time to discern truth from lie, fake from real he couldn’t tell the difference.
Are you able to know what truth is when confronted with decisions? Do you go from person to person trying to find the answer? Do you do what others say, even though you know inside it’s wrong just to seek their approval?
Make God your Friend today. He wants only the very best for you. Get to know Him by reading His Word. Get to know His character in the Person of Jesus. Hang out with His kids. Go and listen to His teachers.
Next time when you have to tell the difference between truth or lie, fake or real you will quickly know the difference because you will have lived with Truth, your best Friend- Jesus the Christ!
We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; He’s already a friend with you. MSG 2 Cor 5:20
