Real Windex

Thinking back, the Windex at church had looked strange for a couple weeks - a bit cloudy and not as blue as usual.  Then I saw a streaky glass window I know I had recently cleaned.  Something was up.  As I compared the cleaning product in the Windex bottle to the refill, I saw the problem:  someone (and that someone likely was me) had mistakenly poured similar looking surface cleaner into the Windex bottle!  That explained why the Windex looked different, and being a product not made for glass it did not perform as expected.  I am happy to say the cleaning crisis is over, as there is now real Windex in the Windex bottle.

For a week or two I thought I was using Windex because of the professional label on the spray bottle, but the poor results on glass alerted me something was amiss.  It reminds me of the warning Jesus provided us in Matthew 7:15-20: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them."  Many people claim to speak truth from God, but not all who make this claim are legitimate.  Even as a tree is known by its fruit, so genuine prophets of God will speak words which align with God's Word.

All believers, regardless of role or calling, ought to ensure our words and claims of truth do not go beyond what scripture has said.  God's Word is compared to a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105).  We need the light of God's Word without man's filters, for they dim and obscure God's clear meaning to accommodate the wisdom of men.  A wolf's growl sounds nothing like the bleat of a sheep, but looks can be deceiving.  For weeks I thought I was using Windex because I didn't take the time to examine the contents of the spray bottle, and often we can believe false teaching is true because we have not carefully examined it ourselves in light of God's Word.  The results of erroneous belief are far more disastrous than streaky glass, and far more difficult to rectify.

May we be as the Jews to whom Paul preached in Berea mentioned in Acts 17:11-12:  "These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. ¹² Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men."  The Jews in the synagogue in Berea received the word with all readiness, but also searched the scriptures daily.  They were not suspicious or cynical when hearing an unfamiliar preacher but were willing to receive.  They diligently researched the claims of Paul, and when confirmed many of Jews and Greeks believed.  Faith in a preacher or prophet is a weak foundation, but the faith in the Word of God provides an eternal foundation.  When we build our lives upon Jesus Christ and His Word, the result is eternal life and continual revelation.