False Lights

During their vacation by the sea, Lena and her family visited an old lighthouse in the area. "What does a lighthouse do, Daddy?" asked Lena's little sister Arianna."It shines light far and wide, so ships out at sea are guided to a safe place to dock," Dad told her."Yes, but do you know what some people used to do long ago?" Mom pointed out toward the sea. "Can you see those rocks way over there? Well, sometimes men called wreckers would light their lamps and swing them over there near those rocks. The ships' captains would think that was a safe harbor, and then they'd end up on the rocks.""That's horrible!" said Lena. "Why would anyone do that?""Well, after the ship crashed into the rocks, the wreckers would steal the cargo," said Mom. "Ships often carried gold in those days.""I'm glad there are no wreckers now," said Arianna.Lena nodded. She shuddered as she studied the sharp, cruel-looking rocks."Actually, we still need to watch out for wreckers," said Dad. "But I don't mean the ship-wrecking kind. Satan is a wrecker--a master wrecker. He makes evil things look attractive and appealing so we're tempted to go after them.""Like what?" asked Lena."Well, how about greed?" said Dad. "While it's not wrong to be rich--in fact, the Bible says everything we have is a gift from God--Satan wants us to love money more than we love God. He wants us to be willing to do anything to get what we want, even if it means hurting others, so he may try to make having lots of money look really good to us. We need to remember that it's Jesus who satisfies our souls, not anything we own."Mom nodded. "Pride is another thing Satan tries to disguise as good. I used to think it was good for me to try to do everything myself, but Jesus reminded me that He didn't save me from sin so I could do life on my own. I needed to depend on Him for help.""Good example," said Dad. "Ships often got wrecked on those rocks out there, and Satan tries to lead us astray with his false lights. We need to keep our eyes on the one true light--Jesus--and trust Him to lead us to safety." -Tanya Ferdinandusz