I bought a new coffee maker this past week. It was a gift for my wife, Peppi. I’d caught a few hints she dropped over the past few months that she was ready for a new one. The one we’ve had worked fine enough but she wanted a dual coffee maker — one that would brew both a cup of coffee (like a Keurig) as well as a pot of coffee. So off I went in search of the perfect one.
My search began on the internet as most of my searches do. I read product reviews on sites like Amazon and Walmart.com. I Googled “best dual coffee makers” which brought up a gazillion websites I’d never heard of. I read through one “Top 10 List” list after another. Eventually, I narrowed my list down to 7 different models. Then I hopped in the car to see if any of our local stores had one in stock.
The third store I visited had one of the machines I’d read about. It was highly rated with over 30k positive reviews. Reviewers said things like — “This one is worth the money!” “This coffee maker will change your mornings!” “A well-built little machine!” “Best purchase I’ve ever made!”
I thought, “With reviews like that, I don’t think I can go wrong with this one!” So I bought it and brought it home.
The morning we opened the box we were so excited. Our shiny new coffee maker was sleek and compact. It had a ton of features. And it perfectly matched the other appliances in the kitchen, which was something I hadn’t even thought about. I started patting myself on the back before we even got it running. “I did good, didn’t I!”
I went through the setup process in the manual step by step. The first step was to take out the individual parts and wash them. Once they were dry, we put them back in and had to do a couple of cleaning cycles without coffee — one on the single cup side, one on the coffee pot side.
I ran a cup of water through the single cup side of the coffee maker. It seemed to take a long time. I mean a l-o-n-g time. I thought, “Well, it’s new. It will speed up after we get it going.” It didn’t. Then I ran a pot of water through the coffee pot side. I left the kitchen and went to the living room as I knew it would take a while.
When I sat down on the couch I heard a strange sound coming from the kitchen. Honestly, I don’t even know how to describe it. It sounded like a combination of thunder and frying bacon. It was LOUD, too! It was so loud the cat left her breakfast and bolted out of the kitchen. For the life of me I couldn't coax her to go back in. I don't know what she thought was happening, but she wanted no part of it.
I ran water through the coffee pot side a few more times and it just got worse. I thought, “What is wrong with this thing?”
I went back to the site where I had read all those glowing reviews. This time I went deeper into the reviews. As I scrolled down, I began to see reviews that said things like — “Slow brewing and tastes like plastic.” “Broke really soon after the first purchase - do not buy!” “Carafe cracked after three uses.” “Wouldn’t buy again.” “The machine melted itself!”
It soon became clear that a great many people had had the same problems with this machine and that many of the good reviews were FAKE.
Fake reviews are a growing problem on websites. A recent story in USA Today stated that anywhere from 4 - 40 % of the reviews we read can be fake (Marta L. Tellado, USA Today, Dec. 10, 2021).
As I’ve reflected on this experience, I cannot help but think about the fact that Satan has been writing “fake reviews” for a long time now.
He painted a rosy picture of what one bite of the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil could do. “Just take one bite and you will become like God!”, he told Eve (Gen. 3:5). Of course, it didn't work out that way.
Twelve spies surveyed the Promised Land. It was everything God said it was. It was a land “flowing with milk and honey” (Num. 13:27). But the devil convinced them that it was also a place where dangers lurked at every turn. It was a land which “devoured its inhabitants” (Num. 13:32). Two of the spies dissented and reminded the people of the promises of God (Num. 14:6-10). But it was too late. The devil had so scared everyone that they forgot about God and His promises.
That's what Satan does. He disguises things. He distorts things. He makes good things seem bad and bad things seem good. He fills this world full of fake reviews and people fall for them every day!
And so, an affair can seem like freedom.
A theft can seem righteous, something we’re entitled to.
A lie can seem like an easy and harmless way to deal with a persistent problem.
But everything the devil says is wrong. Every "good review" he writes is fake. As Jesus said, “[Satan] is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn. 8:44).
When it comes to the "good reviews" we get from time to time about the things of this world, we should be a little wary. It's best we dig a little deeper. In fact, let’s be like the “Noble Bereans” (Acts 17:11) and search the Scriptures to see if these things are true. Much of what we hear is not.
Eventually I told someone about my experience with the coffee maker and they suggested I try the one they use. Works like a charm! This morning I used both sides and made a single cup and a pot of coffee. There's no such thing as too much coffee!