Last Saturday, we had a summer picnic at a local park. It was a beautiful day with many families presented. In the park, there are playgrounds, a beach and two ponds. We had a great time. After lunch, I took the advantage of the ponds to practice my fly casting. It is fun to practice it on water instead of grass lawn. There are bluegill/ Sunfish in the ponds too. So, I used the catch and release practice on those Sunfish. A sister of our group saw what I was doing, asked me to let her keep them. With no bag is available at that time, she has to put the fish through a thin monofilament that I have. It was ok in the beginning but it soon becomes a problem when the third fish was caught. In the middle of pushing the monofilament line through the newly caught one, the ones on the other end of the line struggled. As a result, the line dropped and the previous catch escaped. We were all laughing and thinking it is fish’s lucky day that they got away.

This interesting event reminds me of our own life experience – How often were we surprised by things that we thought are safe and sound? Probably a few times, right? Recently, my son got a penalty fine surprise from a bank, because he used his debit card with insufficient fund. He later told us that he “thought” he still has money in the bank. This is a minor example, how about recent school / college shooting incidents? Aren’t we thinking our kids are safe in those schools as those incidents occurred in seems-to-be-safe neighborhood? After all, we may possess a false sense of security about things if we are not careful. It is not until we were surprised then we realize that there is no sure thing in this world. Yet, it is sad to say that we continue to make the same mistake over and over again.

In the era of Northern and Southern kingdoms, Israelites rely on prophets to give them guidance. However, false prophets would lead them into danger and eventually being captivated by Assyria and Babylon, even prophet Jeremiah and prophet Ezekiel warned them about the imminent judgments. In the book of Jeremiah, God warned Israelites through prophet Jeremiah, “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace. 因為他們從最小的到至大的都一味地貪婪，從先知到祭司都行事虛謊。 他們輕輕忽忽地醫治我百姓的損傷，說『平安了！平安了！』，其實沒有平安。(Jeremiah 6:13-14). In the book of Ezekiel, prophet Ezekiel announced God’s judgment to the false prophets, “My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord. 我的手必攻擊那見虛假異象，用謊詐占卜的先知。他們必不列在我百姓的會中，不錄在以色列家的冊上，也不進入以色列地，你們就知道我是主耶和華。』 因為他們誘惑我的百姓，說『平安！』，其實沒有平安，就像有人立起牆壁，他們倒用未泡透的灰抹上 (Ezekiel 13:9-10)” The false sense of security created by the false prophets make the Israelites believe that God is with them and they are safe. How wrong it is!

Therefore, the real question here is: “Is there any sure thing? Where can we find the sense of security that is “true”?” The answer is “yes!” It is God who can give us the true sense of security. I do hope that you can know Him personally.

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Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.