Preventing Deception
Saturday, December 21, 2024
False Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Matt. 24:24, NKJV.
Have you ever wondered how it could be that Satan could deceive “even the elect” before Christ returns?
Today modern scientific research on the brain reveals how this could happen. Dr. Gregory Belenky and his colleagues at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research have demonstrated that fatigue primarily impairs the function of the frontal lobes of the brain. Using advanced test methods, they have demonstrated that even relatively small losses of sleep significantly reduce the amount of blood flow to this crucial area of the brain.
It is in the frontal lobes that we carry out the highest mental processes, such as judgment, reason, initiative, and forethought. Judgment and reason involve discerning, evaluating, and comparing relevant information to make a correct decision. Forethought is the process of making judgments and plans relating to future events, and initiative is the mental power to begin doing necessary tasks. Fatigue dramatically impairs these important processes.
Have you ever been in a situation in which you were trying to take notes but the speaker was going too fast? Even after the speaker repeated it, you still couldn’t get it all. A fatigued brain responds in a similar way. As it tries to handle the first information, it can’t process what follows afterward, so important information gets lost, and consequently the person makes decisions on partial information, creating mistakes.
Fatigue selectively targets the highest mental functions. Careful thinking and reasoning become impossible. Because our spiritual life is the highest of all mental functions and requires our very best discernment, thought, and reasoning processes, it is extremely important that we not fall into the trap of not getting enough sleep. It doesn’t matter how motivated you are, or how good you are at your profession, or even in your walk with God, a tired brain does not function well and cannot make good, clear decisions, and therefore is easily deceived!
Ellen White wrote: “Whatever detracts from physical vigor, weakens mental effort. . . . We cannot maintain consecration to God, and yet injure our health by the willful indulgence of a wrong habit” (Review and Herald, June 15, 1886).
Don’t let your lifestyle trap you into fatigue. If you do, you will be much more easily tempted and fooled by the devil!
Have you ever wondered how it could be that Satan could deceive “even the elect” before Christ returns?
Today modern scientific research on the brain reveals how this could happen. Dr. Gregory Belenky and his colleagues at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research have demonstrated that fatigue primarily impairs the function of the frontal lobes of the brain. Using advanced test methods, they have demonstrated that even relatively small losses of sleep significantly reduce the amount of blood flow to this crucial area of the brain.
It is in the frontal lobes that we carry out the highest mental processes, such as judgment, reason, initiative, and forethought. Judgment and reason involve discerning, evaluating, and comparing relevant information to make a correct decision. Forethought is the process of making judgments and plans relating to future events, and initiative is the mental power to begin doing necessary tasks. Fatigue dramatically impairs these important processes.
Have you ever been in a situation in which you were trying to take notes but the speaker was going too fast? Even after the speaker repeated it, you still couldn’t get it all. A fatigued brain responds in a similar way. As it tries to handle the first information, it can’t process what follows afterward, so important information gets lost, and consequently the person makes decisions on partial information, creating mistakes.
Fatigue selectively targets the highest mental functions. Careful thinking and reasoning become impossible. Because our spiritual life is the highest of all mental functions and requires our very best discernment, thought, and reasoning processes, it is extremely important that we not fall into the trap of not getting enough sleep. It doesn’t matter how motivated you are, or how good you are at your profession, or even in your walk with God, a tired brain does not function well and cannot make good, clear decisions, and therefore is easily deceived!
Ellen White wrote: “Whatever detracts from physical vigor, weakens mental effort. . . . We cannot maintain consecration to God, and yet injure our health by the willful indulgence of a wrong habit” (Review and Herald, June 15, 1886).
Don’t let your lifestyle trap you into fatigue. If you do, you will be much more easily tempted and fooled by the devil!
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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