Even some of the most astute prospectors have been initially tricked by the metal pyrite; otherwise known as fool’s gold.  It possesses the same color and weight as the real thing, and unless inspected carefully it can cause a false sense of euphoria to the finder for a short period of time.

When that promotion at work comes knocking on your door, promising more money and prestige, do you know for sure that it has been sent from God?  Has the new love of your life, the one you’ve been praying for,  been delivered directly from the gates of heaven?  Is it a certainty that the unexpected amount of cash you’ve stumbled upon the by-product of a spiritual lottery?

Just as he did with Jesus in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11), Satan sometimes offers us the best the world has to offer.  Food, followers and fortune were promised to the Son of God, all things He would eventually possess, but none of them were to be delivered from the Father’s hand.  The seemingly benign gifts were nothing more than a ruse to draw Christ away from the Father as well as His date with the cross.

Never forget that everything God does, Satan counterfeits.  That’s why the Bible states that we are to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1).  Jesus spent 40 days and nights fasting and praying in order to be ready for Satan’s schemes.  That being said, how much preparation is needed for each of us in order to discern between what is real and what is fake?

It is true that, God gives good gifts to His children, but not every gift that appears to be good is necessarily so. Not everything that glitters is gold nor is it for certain godly.