Sure enough, it was Elvis! My sister Ava and I hurried over and got a picture with him before he left the building. We were excited - I mean, it's not everyday you get to see Elvis!
Of course, we were just having a bit of fun. Even though this man looked like Elvis, talked and sang like Elvis, he was not Elvis. Elvis actually left the building way back in 1977. In this case, we visited the Legends Theater in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and watched the delightful show featuring look-alikes for a half dozen well-known celebrities. A few of the performers were spitting images of the entertainer they were impersonating and their singing sounded like them too. It's actually a bit disorienting at times. Your mind can be tricked into thinking this is the real thing.
As I thought about impersonations, I couldn't help thinking of Satan - the great imposter. While the entertainers we watched pretended to be famous singers, it was all done in fun and no one actually believed this person was the real Elvis, or any of the other celebrities were real.
Sadly, in the real world, people are sometimes fooled by Satan and his emissaries. Scripture warns us about such impersonators - "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves," Matthew 7:15. Talk about being disoriented - imagine a seemingly kind and gentle preacher (a prophet in sheep's clothing) speaking about how there is no hell - God loves everyone and will surely not leave anyone out of heaven. Does that sound like the truth to you? Some people believe such lies and other false statements, and don't realize that preacher who is acting all cheerful and kind is really a ravenous wolf sent by Satan to lead people astray.
The warning continues in 1 John 4: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world."
If what you are hearing is not in line with the truth of the Scripture - God's Holy Word - then, it is false and not from God. And so, it's important to be familiar with what God says to us. "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workmen who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth," 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV.
When Jesus was talking about being the Good Shepherd and caring for His sheep (we who are Christians), He said that His sheep follow Him, "for they know His voice," John 10:4.
And so, the moral of the story is this -- watching a fake Elvis, fake Alan Jackson, fake Karen Carpenter, and fake Reba, is great fun! But, falling for a false preacher/prophet is NOT - in all caps. Don't let a trickster trick you into believing a lie. Jesus said, "If you abide in My word, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," John 8:31.
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