Wise as serpents

"Donation for the Lord" was the subject of the email. It was written by a widow in Sierra-Leone whose husband had worked for the South African embassy and somehow amassed $15 million with a financial institution in Cote D'Ivoire. She herself is now dying of cancer. She wants to donate the money to a church or individual who will use it to fund orphanages.

"The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I don't have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians. I don't want my husband's hard earned money to be misused by unbelievers, for their own selfish interest and in an ungodly manner. I am not afraid of death. . . . I know I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. . . ."

What do you think? I'll tell you what I thought. I got in the car and hot-footed it to a Burmese man I know who started lots of orphanages in his country and who is desirous of sending them support. He didn't even look at the email. Even after I excitedly described its contents and gushed over the fortuitous coincidence of its coming into my hands soon after making his acquaintance, he said flatly, "I am familiar with that temptation. She will next ask for your bank account number so that she can send you the money. And then you will lose everything you have."

I shuddered inwardly. I thought of the prophecy in Revelation: "Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon" (13:11). And especially of this: "And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14).

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