Is It Real?

Have you ever had a difficult time telling if something was real or not? I remember the television commercial, “Is it live or is it Memorex?” For those of you that don’t remember, Memorex was one of the manufacturers of cassette tapes. They were asking could you tell if a performance was live or was it from a recording. (For those of you that don’t know what a cassette tape is, ask your parents.) Oftentimes the copied version is almost identical to the original, but not quite. From a quick glance, it looks the same until you examine the details closely. Then you begin to see the difference. The copied version or fake just won’t hold up. It won’t last. Therefore it behooves us to be on the lookout for fakes of the real thing. I just returned from Tanzania. They are concerned about fake or counterfeit money being exchanged so their general policy is to not accept “old” bills, i.e. bills must be dated after the year 2000. Revelation 13 speaks of a beast who performs “great signs” and “deceives those who dwell on the earth.” The beast is a fake god. Even though he could perform miracles, he was not the Real Thing because his miracles were fakes, they would not hold up to close inspection. The world and the Church are full of fakes or people that will not stand up as true under close inspection. Hear me clear, I am not perfect and I am a sinner saved by His grace, but I hope that people do not see me as a “fake”, especially concerning my Christianity. Maybe I need to be like the Tanzanian money exchangers and make sure that the model of Christ-likeness that I strive to be is fresh and not stale or old. Today I am going to strive to be fresh in my Christianity and stop relying on past attempts. I want to be the real thing, don’t you? Blessings