YOLO. You only live once!
Grab all the gusto you can!
Life is short.
Live today like there's no tomorrow!
Carpe diem. Seize the day!
Every one of those statements is true.
We only live once. Hebrews 9:27 tells us that we are “destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”
Life is short. It is! James tells us, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (Jas. 4:14).
We should enjoy this life and make the most of it. Absolutely! Solomon declared: “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live” (Ecclesiastes 3:12).
Every one of those statements is true.
Except, they don't tell the whole truth.
Satan's really good at holding back key parts of the truth so that we get a distorted picture of reality.
He sold Eve on the idea that partaking of the forbidden fruit would open her eyes (Genesis 3:1-4). It did. But he left out the part about how this knowledge would destroy her innocence.
He tried to talk Jesus into throwing himself down to the ground in a show of power and bravado (Matthew 4:5-6). For, as Satan said, the scriptures declare: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone’” (Psa. 91.11-12). Of course, he forgot to mention the passage where it says: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (Deuteronomy 6:16). Thankfully, Jesus didn't forget.
Someone once told me: “There's a kernel of truth in every lie.” I believe that. I also believe Satan is a master at giving us just enough truth so that we swallow his lies.
It’s true — “You only live once.” It’s true — “Life is short.” It’s true — “God wants us to enjoy this life!” It's also true that this life is nothing compared to eternity. If we adopt a "Live today like there is no tomorrow!" mentality, when we reach eternity we will find that we will have wasted our time here.
But you're never going to hear that part of the truth as long as Satan controls the narrative. And he has his hands in so much of what we see and hear today. Distorting. Misdirecting. Spitting out half-truths.
Paul warned the Colossians not to be deceived by “fine-sounding arguments” (Col. 2:14). The term for those kinds of arguments is “sophistry” which, by definition, is "the use of fallacious arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving” (Oxford Languages Dictionary).
Satan is really good at making false claims sound true!
This is why John instructs us to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 Jn. 4:1).
This is why Paul told the Thessalonians to “test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Ths. 5:21).
We are inundated every day with false messages, false claims, sinful examples and arguments against God and biblical morality! The only way I know to deal with this is to study God's word so that we know what we believe and our convictions are strengthened.
Jesus said, “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
It will!
The truth will free us from the lies that are destroying our culture.
The truth will free us from the self-deceit that is killing us spiritually.
The truth may save your marriage.
I know it will save our souls!
Only when we embrace the truth can we counter Satan's lies.
So many people around us are shaping their beliefs and living their lives according to the lies which Satan has fed them. They’ve bought in “hook, line, and sinker”.
Let’s be the people who see through these lies. Only because we have embraced the truth (2 Timothy 2:15).