Seduced By Self

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

James 1:22

A person need not live long before they have been deceived.  Deception and life on earth go together like butter on bread.  When the first sin was committed on earth, deception was not absent.  Adam blamed his wife, and Eve blamed the serpent.  Genesis 3:13 reads, "And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."  In the KJV the word used for deceived is "beguiled," and is defined in the original as "to lead astray, to delude, or to seduce."

We have all been deceived, and we have all played the deceiver.  But the worst delusion of all is when we deceive ourselves.  James warns all who read his letter that self-deception, even for believers, is a condition we must soberly guard against.  We must remain vigilant and ever-watchful of the real potential which spawns from familiarity.  Because we read a passage with agreement, because a verse has been committed to memory, we can be deceived to think we have put the spiritual truth in continual practice.  The more we hear something we can become dull and numb.  We hear a verse quoted and are able to finish it off verbatim in our minds thinking, "Yeah, I know that.  Blah, blah, blah."  Even though we agree in principle, we can continue to live a life contrary to what God's Word says.

It is imperative we examine our thoughts, words, and deeds in accordance to scripture.  Proverbs 12:15 says, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise."  Even as a child must be trained by his parents, so every child of God must submit to His rule.  God will discipline and chasten us so we might be restored and reconciled to fellowship with Him.  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and fools hate knowledge.  King Solomon spoke a proverb concerning the man who walks in pride and self-confidence in Proverbs 26:12:  "Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."  Those who are seduced by self are worse off than fools.  If you are familiar with the book of Proverbs, that is saying a lot!  Self-deception is Satan's greatest ploy in warring against God's people.  The devil wants us to become dull from much hearing.  He wants us to believe we are doers of the word when we are only idle listeners.

Thank God He has provided the Bible and the Holy Spirit to search our hearts who will never lead us astray!  If at the moment you are not actively mindful to avoid potential sins or fighting the good fight of faith against temptations; if it is a foreign concept to take wicked thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ or cannot think of a single area of sin in your life which must be confessed to God and man; if you are not being held accountable for areas of habitual sin to which you have been given over to for a season of your life, you likely have fallen prey to self-deception.  Let us all pray with David in Psalm 139:23-24:  "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; ²⁴ and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."