Scripture for Today:  Hebrews 5:14  “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

It is that time of year here when mushroom hunting is in full swing!  My French friends go to the local forests and gather their favorites, knowing the best areas to find them.  When you see the prices in the stores you can understand the motivation to hunt one’s own!

I would not be a good guide to the safe mushrooms.  I know nothing about it.  And even the most experienced can sometimes make a mistake, even a fatal one.  The way it works here is that if one is unsure, the mushrooms are checked by the staff of the local pharmacy.  They are trained to discern which mushrooms are poisonous.

Our verse talks about another kind of discernment that should characterize the mature believer.  Those believers who have finished with “milk” and have progressed to solid food are those who are experienced and skilled in living righteously.  Their spiritual senses are trained to know good from evil. Because they have been in the Word they know how to choose what pleases the Lord.

Those poisonous mushrooms can look so edible.  Satan is an angel of light and a liar.  He knows how to make something lethal look real good.  If we think that on our own we can tell the difference between what is good and what is evil than we are deceiving ourselves.  It is only through knowing God’s Word that we have any discernment at all.

I do not want to be deceived.  I never want to feel I have been fooled by the enemy.  I want rather to have senses sharpened by His Word.  Today, may I recognize even the smallest nuance of evil and avoid it like a bad mushroom!