There is a human tendency to believe in others what they see in themselves. Honest people tend to believe others honest, and corrupt people believe all are corrupt. It is a natural behavior to apply ourselves to the world around us because of the condensed limitations of our lives. Deception works on this process.

The stunning truth is that humans ignore a trap and walk, or strut, right into a killing zone. We know that drugs and alcohol destroy, yet the number of addicts only increases. It appears that the deceptive lure is more powerful than the truth. We overlook the cruelty of a Hitler because he sounds good and looks good on the surface despite his being the invitation to total destruction. People who accept appearance as truth will always fall because rarely are things as they appear. Even when they are, we, as humans, only see the smallest portion of what is happening.

There is a story of building a house on sand or rock. The foundation is critical to the house standing. Our preferences and desires are often sand because that is a foundation of “what works best for me in the moment.” It is a truth that shifts according to our affections and circumstantial perceptions. It is transitory truth that is powerless to stand.

There is a truth outside of us that is not so transitory. The Bible reveals a God that is true and consistent over thousands of years in human experience and verified in every generation to the present day. God is not transitory or vulnerable to the thoughts and emotions of circumstances like humans are. We can see God most clearly in Jesus who was not tricked, deceived, or brought to harm by any trick or lie. He proved that real truth lasts beyond death and the grave where human truth ends. We will always be tricked when our body and this life is the truth we serve. We can walk in true freedom when Jesus, who was truly free from all the deceptions of this life, is the truth we follow.