What’s behind the mask?

Scooby Doo is one of the greatest mystery shows of all time.

I used to watch this all the time as a kid.

I loved how Scooby and Shaggy ate all the time and was scared yet always ran into the bad guys.

At the end of the show they caught the criminal and they would always say, "Let's take off that mask."

They would pull off the mask and be shocked by the person underneath.

The person underneath the mask is someone they didn't suspect.

It shines light on how that person really is.

Often we are no different.

The person we see and the things we do, don't sometimes match up with who we are.

People see us in one light then when we mess up.

The mask that comes off and people have trouble seeing us in a different way.

Jesus warns people about people like this. He talks about false prophets in Matthew 7 verses 15-16…

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?"

Some of the people we know we might not really know.

When they all of a sudden mess up, we are shocked.

Jesus describes people that pick grapes from thorn bushes.

Why would anyone do this?

By their fruit (by what they do) or what their known for we see them.

Jesus specifically talks about false prophets.

Many people might come in Jesus' name, but they do not know what he stands for.

They have their own ideas.

Minister's and Christians can fall in this boat sometimes.

I always believed in Jesus and God my entire life, but that didn't guarantee me going to heaven.

By high school I thought everyone in the Church was a hypocrite.

I would still attend Church every once and a while but felt at unease when the same people praising God were the same ones drinking smoking and having sex at my school.

I once knew a minister who did not back up his actions.

He prided himself in being a people person, but was the furthest thing from it.

He was once invited over to some friends house for dinner.

He got over to their house that night and sat down said, "Man, I really hoped you were going to cancel tonight I had a long day."

He said this in the first five minutes they were there.

My friends did not appreciate this and told me about this.

A people person loves being around people, this person was not it.

My friends also said that night they felt like they were being completely judged as this person looked around their house and their behavior.

It was minister's like this that made me not want to be a Christian in the first place.

While there are some false prophets out there, just like Christians, minister's are people and mess up too.

If you find one minister that has a holier then now attitude, know that they are human and sin just as much (sometimes more, the Devil works on them the most).

I am full of holes and admit I am still a sinner.

Yet, I try to be as true to my nature as I am.

I have holes, but don't we all?

We all have area's we want to improve in to become better people.

What are some holes in your life you want filled in?

Baptism covered those holes in my life.

It can in your life too.

Just because I believed in God and Jesus didn't make me a follower.

The Devil believed in God and Jesus and I don't think he's going to be there in heaven.

Baptism was an outward sign of my faith in Jesus.

We all make mistakes, we all put on our sheep's clothing sometimes, but Jesus can cover us when we recognize him.

Unlike the bad guys on Scooby Doo, we don't have to wear a mask to show we make mistakes.

If we didn't make mistakes there would be no point for Jesus dying on the cross for us.

What do you think?

Have a great day.