Definately Spam (by Thom)

Not a day goes by where I don't get at least 30 emails offering me the opportunity to help someone move their ex-king's multi-billion dollar fortune for a 10% commission or discount medicines or the joyous news that I've won several international lotteries that I never even entered! You wouldn't believe how many people want to sell me cheap software or give me a loan to start my own business. Oh, and I don't know how Rolex stays in business selling for full price when I can get their watches for pennies on the dollar.
Honestly, I don't even look at the spam folder in my email. I used to check to make sure things weren't accidentally ending up there but I've never found a problem with it. However, today the son of a Malian friend came to me. He was excited because he had "won" $300 in an international lotto. However, the lotto asked for a bank account to transfer the funds and he didn't have one. He wanted to use the mission's account if that was possible. I took one look at his email and my heart sunk. I felt really bad for my friend's son. You have to understand that $300 here is a lot more than in the US. The average annual income in Mali is about $300, so that represents more like $30,000 in America.
After explaining what happened I thought it might be interesting to search Google for devotional thoughts on spam. Here's where I landed. I was struck by this thought from the author:

As you go about your daily life, be on guard for the "spam" ideas that Satan throws your way. He'll try to talk you in to all kinds of things. That's why the bible is telling us to be on the look out for them. Satan's spam thoughts come in many different forms, they come in the form of friends, the radio, the TV, and the internet. Pretty much, if you can imagine it then he will try it. The devil is pretty successful in bombarding us with this kind of stuff. But God has given us the Holy Spirit. He acts like our spam software, our virus software and our registry cleaning software all in one. He can help us recognize when something is spam and when something is real. Today ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and to show you when the devil delivers some spam ideas at you. You will be surprised how much He will point out. Once He points it out though, you have the option of either listening or not, the call is always yours.

Amen.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) (NIV)