The Impostor

(I promise, this post is actually a quick read and not nearly as long as it looks...Blogger is rebelling against me once again in the formatting department)

My sister Schnitzy knows fashion. Will she be wearing purple this fall? Of course. Since it has been dubbed the color of the season she’ll at least accessorize with shades of plumb. She knows what to wear and how to wear it.

The exorbitant price tags that are often attached to hot ticket items impose limitations on a fashion diva; so, when Schnitzy heard about an opportunity to purchase designer handbags at average Jane prices, she hopped a train to the city that doesn’t sleep. Moments after arriving at her destination, a woman approached her and whispered, “Do you want Gucci, Coach, or Prada?” to which Schnitzy replied, “Yes!”

Shooing away from her mind questions of safety, Schnitzy followed the suspicious woman down the street, through an alley, into an old warehouse, and up a metal staircase. Her heart raced as the woman stopped and opened a Hobbit-sized door, pointed toward a narrow crawl space, and with a hushed tone said, “You go now.”

Stunningly, Schnitzy obeyed.

The crawl space led to an enormous room well stocked with fine looking handbags. My sister was greeted by a man who showed her several trendy bags with designer markings. She chose two. Instead of handing her the purses he held, the man reached for two among the vast stock pile. He then grabbed some silver name plates from a drawer and stamped them onto the handbags.

Swallowing down the hard lump that formed in her dry throat, Schnitzy exchanged money for the phony purses. She had fallen for a scam, risked her life for an impostor.

I’m going to ask you to lay judgment aside. I ask because, first, she was barely out of high school and made bad a choice that can now be chalked up to inexperience. We all own a few of those, right? Second, I have been guilty of the same brand of mistake. There has been a time or two, or two-hundred, when the voice of temptation crooned, “I’ve got what you want over here…come, it’s worth the risk.” And like the piper’s field mouse, I followed.

I blanch remembering several different situations when I broke the rules in order to gain what I deemed as top quality. I’ve told lies, betrayed the trust of a friend, and undermined a co-worker. Of course later, and sometimes only seconds later, I discovered that I had been cheated… I had traded something authentic, like my integrity, for a fraud.

Those examples are now old memories, but I still have a few “Prada knock-off’s” hanging around. There are many to choose from…many items in this life that promise real happiness, true joy, and authentic contentment, but each one just leaves me yearning for more, because each one is an impostor.

There is only One who can bring truth. One, who is the real deal. He’s not running for president of the United States…He runs the entire universe. And if I can just keep my eyes on Him, the true desires of my heart will be granted, and I’ll never again settle for a cheap impostor.

Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one. All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant to their own shame. Isaiah 44:8-9 (NIV).