The Real McCoy

“They received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11b (NIV) It was hunting season some years back. My brother-in-law, Frank, and a couple others were hunting on the rivers and lakes near Opaskweyak, Manitoba. It was a good trip and they got a moose, which they skinned and loaded into their boat. As they were finishing up, Frank (a notorious practical joker) noticed an old barrel on the riverbank, over which he threw the hide and placed the head on top of before starting home. (There are parts of a skinned-out moose that you just sometimes leave behind for the coyotes.) The story is told how his friend Pat came around the bend on the river later and saw what he thought was a live moose. He started shooting, and kept on shooting (17 shots!) until he realized it wasn’t real. He just couldn’t figure out why he heard a “ping” every time he hit it! What he saw sure looked real, but it wasn’t! That reminds me of how you and I can believe that something is the truth, when it’s actually fake. Like Frank’s “Moosehead Barrel,” part of it was real, but it sure was not the “Real McCoy”! In today’s world we’re bombarded by many different messages. Some of which are true, some totally false, and some that are a mix of truth and falsehood. It’s these “hybrid” messages that are the hardest to deal with — because they look and sound like the “Real McCoy.” When we encounter a new spiritual teaching, it’s important that we check it out very thoroughly before we decide what to believe. How does it line up with God’s Word, the Bible? Who is the teaching coming from? How will it impact our behavior? Let’s make sure we know what God’s Word says about the teachings we follow. Not everything that sounds like the truth is the “Real McCoy”! — Kene Jackson   Council Fire is a collaboration with Intertribal Life Ministries and Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. The Council Fire Daily Devotional Book Set is available on the Intertribal Life Ministries website. Learn more about Council Fire at councilfire365.org