I was just looking up the lyrics to a worship song. There are a lot of websites that have misleading popups but it seems that sites that contain lyrics (of any sort) are the worst offenders. To the uninitiated these popups look like bona fide MS windows messages. They say things like "browser refresh recommended" or "do you want to prevent spam?" or "Initiate virus checker?" and they have yes/no buttons that when pressed usually run a script that can at best be cookies or spyware and at worst a malicious virus. Even with a popup blocker a lot of these seem to sneak through.
It reminded me of how 2 Corinthians 11:14 says that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. It is sometimes difficult to tell the genuine from the impostor if we are not Spirit led. We need to ask for discernment and we need to study the Word of God.
Proverbs 3:21 says we should preserve sound judgment and discernment and not let them out of our sight. The Matthew Henry commentary says that you should never imagine that you have looked on them too long. This reminds me of an illustration that I've heard preachers use a few times regarding counterfeit. It seems that the best way to recognize counterfeit is to first study the real thing inside and out.
As a Information Technology professional, I know what real Microsoft Windows error messages look like. I've seen them for years. It's usually easy for me to spot the fakes. I want to be that way with the things of God. I know I'll never attain to knowing all there is to know. But I want to seek Him and live in His word so that when that fake message comes along I see it for what it is rather than getting fooled. For the destructive data that comes into my soul might be at best an annoyance and at worst a malicious infection if I don't practice discretion.
It reminded me of how 2 Corinthians 11:14 says that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. It is sometimes difficult to tell the genuine from the impostor if we are not Spirit led. We need to ask for discernment and we need to study the Word of God.
Proverbs 3:21 says we should preserve sound judgment and discernment and not let them out of our sight. The Matthew Henry commentary says that you should never imagine that you have looked on them too long. This reminds me of an illustration that I've heard preachers use a few times regarding counterfeit. It seems that the best way to recognize counterfeit is to first study the real thing inside and out.
As a Information Technology professional, I know what real Microsoft Windows error messages look like. I've seen them for years. It's usually easy for me to spot the fakes. I want to be that way with the things of God. I know I'll never attain to knowing all there is to know. But I want to seek Him and live in His word so that when that fake message comes along I see it for what it is rather than getting fooled. For the destructive data that comes into my soul might be at best an annoyance and at worst a malicious infection if I don't practice discretion.