There is nothing in the world that is more satisfying to our soul than having a spiritual connection with God. However, the devil can make God seem boring to us so that we stop worshiping him. This is called deception. It blocks good from our lives so that we fill our spiritual hunger with unsatisfying activities and attitudes. These take two forms: addictions and I’m-rightness (focusing on living rightly while missing God’s beauty).

Thankfully, God knows how to deal with deception. Once we have had good experiences with him (such as marveling at the beauty of his creation and loving other people), we realize that we can communicate with him about the bad things as well. We want to believe that the one who made pure goodness would not want our worship-art to be ruined by anything bad.

If you have ever made an art project, you know that mistakes can ruin artwork. Or, they can spark more creativity in the mind of the artist so that the project ends up to be just as beautiful as it would have been without the mistake. Deception can cause mistakes in the art projects of our lives. When good is blocked in our lives and we are trapped in addiction or I’m-rightness, God’s creativity is activated.

Jesus, also known as God the Son, said:

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

-John 4:24

Please notice that Jesus used the word, “must.” When God created you as his self- expression, in his image, he put a “spirit” in you that recognizes and loves the truth. You must use your spirit to reach out to him when you sense his goodness being blocked in your worship-art. 

Assignment 2: Write an example of deception that you have experienced in your life.