Don't Believe Everything You See

The Bible encourages us to walk in the ways of God, grounded in the reality of His truth.   In 3rd John, we read in verses 2-4:
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.  Prosperity of the soul involves absorbing God's truth into our consciousness and walking according to its principles.   As we grow in our knowledge of the Lord, we become more skilled in knowing and following the truth.   The world offers us a varied set of illusions, but God can give us a sense of reality in Christ - not chasing fantasies, not wondering what may or may not be true, not relying on the world to give us advice, but giving us an objective, absolute standard by which we can live our lives.    The world's illusions are deceptive and temporary - God's Word lasts forever!

Ephesians 5 can challenge us to walk in God's truth:
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.

The BCS National Championship Game is now history, and once again, for the fourth consecutive year, a team from Alabama is king of college football.  The Crimson Tide made it 3 out of the last 4 with a resounding victory over Notre Dame.

Fans of both schools received e-mails yesterday congratulating their team on winning the game, that had not yet been played.   The notes came from Amazon.com:

The one that went to Fighting Irish fans, according to ESPN.com said:
 "Congratulations to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, NCAA National Football Champions. Customers who have shown an interest in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish might like to see NCAA championship merchandise and additional team fan gear."

The same note, substituting in Alabama, was sent to those whom the website had identified as Crimson Tide fans, presumably because of their past ordering profiles.

Later in the day, Amazon sent out an apology, saying they made a mistake, they could not predict the future, and, "We hope you enjoy the game".

ESPN referred to a similar mistake in 2011, when Macy's ran an ad in the Miami Herald selling Miami Heat championship gear.   On the same page was an article with a story mentioning that the Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks in six games.

So, you can't believe everything you see - think about the hype leading in to the national championship game.  There was some compelling evidence that it would be a clash of the titans, a game for the ages, the return to prominence for #1 Notre Dame and their awesome defense.   Victories over 9 bowl teams, including Stanford and Oklahoma, but also Pitt, Southern Cal, and Purdue.   Heisman Trophy finalist Manti Ta'o.    Turns out that Notre Dame may have been more of a pretender than a contender.   I would say that at least 5, maybe more, SEC teams in a head-to-head matchup beat the Irish.   Exposed by the team that has become the standard in college football; even Coach Kelley said as much.

It's a stark reminder to us that we as believers have to be grounded in truth - we can't believe everything we see or hear.   That includes not only media, but the thoughts that go through our mind.   If our thinking is tainted by fear or inaccurate appraisals of situations, then we will respond in an improper manner, outside of God's will for our lives.   The truth is our standard, our compass, our beacon - and while we may be tempted to develop mental scenarios that end up being empty fantasies, God's word and the leadership of His Spirit will keep us going in the right direction.