“Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.” (Psalms 146:3). There are times when we have no choice but to trust someone. We trust the doctor to give us a correct diagnosis, we trust the mechanic to fix our car. We don’t have the education or training needed to fix problems in a wide variety of possible problem areas. But even though we may be forced to trust others in some areas, it often makes us uncomfortable. We would like to be able to double check and make sure that we are being told the truth. We should especially want to double check things we are being told in religion. The more dire the result of following bad advice, the more essential it is that we check, to the best of our ability, to make sure we are being given good information. In 1 Kings chapter 13 we read about a man of God who had been sent to Bethel on a mission from God. He successfully carried out his mission and was returning home when he was met by an old prophet who told him that an angel had told him to bring the man of God home with him and give him bread and water. The old prophet was lying to the man of God. The man of God had been instructed not to return home by the same way he came, and he was not to eat or drink on his journey. Why the old prophet lied to the man of God, we don’t know. It really doesn’t matter, the results were the same regardless of the motivation. The man of God believed the old prophet, and because he disobeyed the instructions given him by God, he was killed by a lion on his way home (verses 21-24). There are many people who will receive the same kind of judgment when they stand before God (Matthew 7:21-23). People listen to a preacher week in and week out and never bother to look into God’s word to see if they are being told the truth. It is not necessary to attribute evil motives to someone who preaches error, they may really believe what they say even though they are wrong. Motive doesn’t matter, wrong is wrong. We need to take these things seriously. God has given us the information we need in His revealed word. We have resources available to help us understand God’s word, though we should remember not to take anyone’s unsupported word for things. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” If we truly want to do what God requires of us, we will be given an opportunity to know what that is.