March 14, 2021 (Sunday)
Looking through a hundred years of National Geographic, I was interested in the advertisements. The oldest ads followed the line, “We sell things. We believe ours is the best. Here’s why. Please buy our product.”
I noticed how the ads changed through the years and psychology was overtly used: “Your neighbor has one of these. Don’t you wish you had one, too?” Or more subtly, “Everybody who is somebody likes our product. Are you somebody?”
Confronting the misrepresentation of products, laws have been passed insisting on truth in advertising. Yet the ad creators have learned how to communicate their exaggerations and misrepresentations in such a way that your subconscious mind hears and accepts propaganda.
The devil uses the same subtle devices to make us think that sin is not only acceptable, but desirable. Sometimes we discover this too late, after the damage has been done.
Believing half-truths and lies has been around a long time. It goes back to Adam and Eve and the serpent. Eve told the serpent “we cannot eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; if we do, God said, ‘we will die.'” The serpent’s reply was, “You will not die.” So they ate. And they died, spiritually. That has continued to be a problem for all of us, because we are a fallen race, going all the way back to the time when there were only two of us.
And so, as the Bible says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” And it also says, “The wages of sin is death.” We have been warned. But we do the evil deeds anyway, because we believe the lies of the devil and his fallen followers.
Jesus spoke of Satan in John 8:44. He said, “When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
As the song asks, “When will we ever learn?”
That’s the bad news. The good news is
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:9-13 NIV).
SAVED! SAVED!
Jack P. Scholfield
1911
I’ve found a Friend, who is all to me,
His love is ever true;
I love to tell how He lifted me
And what His grace can do for you.
Refrain:
Saved by His pow’r divine,
Saved to new life sublime!
Life now is sweet and my joy is complete,
For I’m saved, saved, saved!
He saves me from every sin and harm,
Secures my soul each day;
I’m leaning strong on His mighty arm;
I know He’ll guide me all the way. Refrain
When poor and needy and all alone,
In love He said to me,
“Come unto Me and I’ll lead you home,
To live with Me eternally.” Refrain