August 11

James writes in the New Testament, “Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness” (3:1). Why is that the case? Because the way a person behaves, is greatly affected by the way a person thinks. And the way a person thinks is greatly affected by what a person believes. And what a person believes is greatly affected by what a person has been taught to believe. Because the Evil One knows that a knowledge of the truth can set people free from enslavement to his lies (John 8:32; Hosea 4:6), he must distort the truth in any way he can. If teachers can be deceived in their thinking by the Evil One, then their impact on those they teach will be wide spread.
The problem with Israel was that she was often being led and taught by misinformed and evil teachers and prophets. If the feet of those who bring good news are beautiful (Romans 10:15; Isaiah 52:7), then the feet of those who teach lies must be dry, cracked, and condemned. Rather, than being a light to the darkened kingdoms and people around them, both Judah and Israel had become as dark as the pagan nations themselves. Jesus said, “Your eye is a lamp for your body. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul. But an evil eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. If the light you think you have is really darkness, how deep that darkness will be!” (Matthew 6:22&23). If that which our eyes see is dark, then our lives will be lived in the darkness. Likewise, the reason the people of Judah and Israel were living in darkness, is because their moral teachers, those who should have been the eyes which taught moral truth and light, were wicked and dark, themselves.
Through the prophet, Jeremiah, God said, “My heart is broken because of the false prophets. .....The land itself is in mourning......for the prophets do evil and abuse their power. The priests are like the prophets, all ungodly, wicked men......Therefore, their paths will be dark and slippery ...... I saw that the prophets of Samaria were terribly evil, for they prophesied by Baal and led my people of Israel into sin. But now I see that the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse! They commit adultery, and they love dishonesty. They encourage those who are doing evil instead of turning them away from their sins.....it is because of Jerusalem’s prophets that wickedness fills this land” (Jeremiah 23:9-15).
There are many people we impact on a daily basis - - our children, other people’s children, those we work with, our friends, and more. Are we bringing them good news, which is a light to the truth that will forever change their lives for the good? Or, are we bringing them the same darkness we’ve become accustomed to?