One of my sons was scammed recently. Intending to rent an apartment, he had gone online to look for available units and property agents who could help him. One agent seemed legitimate . . . but it was a scam, and the villain made away with some of my son’s money.

Now, my son is someone who exercises great vigilance when shopping online. In fact, he often warns me and my wife to be careful on the internet. So I could sense his great dismay when he himself fell victim to a scam.

After we sat down to retrace his steps, we realised that the scammer had been very thorough and crafty in executing his devious scheme. He understood the real estate business well, and knew what would appeal to customers and convince them to trust him.

He had shown my son what looked like proper credentials—official company invoices, even the supposed landlord’s “identity card”, all of which lent him credibility. He seemed like a genuine agent offering an authentic deal. It would have taken a very keen eye to notice that the documents had all been forged.

The scammer had also applied subtle pressure tactics. He suggested that there were other potential clients too, who were keen to take the offer. My son, not wanting to miss out, took the bait and paid a deposit. In hindsight, he realised that he had been tricked into making a hasty decision without examining the claims properly.

It struck me, as I reflected on the incident, that there are parallel lessons we can learn when it comes to knowing more about God. We need to be extra careful about the claims and teachings we come across, for some might lead us away from God’s truths and not towards them.

We might fall into the trap of following misguided teachings because of their appeal. Perhaps we only want to hear teaching that we agree with (2 Timothy 4:3). Perhaps we trust those whom we listen to too much, never stopping to check their motivations or intentions.

We can also get “scammed” when we rely solely on others to teach us without examining the Scriptures ourselves—to verify what we have been taught. Let’s take a leaf out of the book of the Berean Jews instead, who after receiving Paul’s message “with great eagerness” still “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11).

Scripture attunes us to God’s voice. He has given us His Word to help us know, love, and obey Him. And by the Holy Spirit He has “made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of [His] glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

God’s good gifts to us—His Spirit and His Word—help us discover who He is and what His purposes are. He has given us the ability to stay away from spiritual scams.

We who have received these gifts from Him can do our part by relying on His Spirit as we immerse ourselves in His Word.

Lord, please give me a new hunger for Your Word, that I might desire to spend time reading and reflecting on it regularly. Grant me wisdom and discernment, that I would not be led astray by false teaching, but learn to distinguish what is true and godly.