The Counterfeit Life

Buying snacks from street food vendors while taking evening walks is one of my fondest memories from my teenage years. There is a popular traditional West African snack made of fried dough called puff-puff, I love this snack so much. I would put together some leftover change I had from running errands for my mother until I had something substantial to buy puff-puff. One day my little change wasn’t enough to buy the quantity of puff-puff I needed, so I asked my mother for some money and she gave me a 50 naira note. I bought puff-puff and got a change of 40 naira which consisted of two 20 naira notes. It was almost dusk but bright enough for me to see the change given to me. The following day  I needed to do some printing and my mother said I should use the change on me. Upon my arrival at the printing shop, I discovered that one of the 20 naira notes was fake. In other words, it was a counterfeit. It did not need a trained eye to see the note was fake especially because an original 20 naira note was also in my possession. The differences between the two notes were obvious.  On one hand, I felt defrauded, on the other hand, I doubt the street food vendor would have deliberately defrauded me since I was a known face in the environment. I mean, why would you want to defraud someone who lives just a few blocks away from your kiosk? It did not make sense to me. They hadn’t shown any sign of dishonesty in the past, so I ended up saying to myself that someone must have given the vendor the fake 20 naira note, and they handed it over to me without noticing it was fake. I thought the value of money on me was 40 naira but in fact, it was 20 naira because one 20 naira note was a counterfeit.

Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights communing with God, and in Exodus 28:1-5, God instructs Moses to anoint Aaron and his sons as priests to serve Him and to serve in the Tabernacle. Aaron was going to assume a new role in God’s plan for the Israelites. He was going to transition from serving Moses directly to serving as a priest to the Israelites. While God was giving Moses details about His plan for every clan in Israel, the Israelites grew impatient waiting for Moses and devised their own plan. Exodus 32:1-6, NLT:

1When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.

2 So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”

3 All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

5 Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!”

6 The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.

They came up with the idea of creating a god for themselves, sold the idea to Aaron, and instantly made him a priest to an idol. All this time, Aaron and the Israelites had no idea God’s plan was already in motion for Aaron to become a priest to God. Aaron became a corrupted version of what God had already created him to be, he became a counterfeit. Aaron was already a priest in the sight of God even before God told Moses he would be a priest. Verse 5 of Exodus 32 reveals how Aaron expressed the office of priesthood. He noticed their enthusiasm for the graven image and took the initiative in determining the course and strategy for worshiping the idol (which they believed represented God). At this point, it was not just an idea the Israelites sold to Aaron, he now owned it and took over the responsibility of leadership.  The devil tried to make Aaron live a life that was a shadow of his calling and purpose. The devil thought the best way to divert Aaron from his divine call was to give him an assignment that will make him incur the wrath of God. Indeed, God was angry and sought to destroy the Israelites (Aaron inclusive) for this sin.

“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” – Exodus 32:9-10, NIV

God was ready to start all over with Moses, but Moses interceded on their behalf and God showed them mercy (Exodus 32:11-14). If Moses did not intercede for them, Aaron would have died being a priest to an idol. He would have died living a life counterfeit to what he was created to be.

A life of sin is a counterfeit to the life God has given us. A life that has not embraced God’s gift of salvation is a life of idolatry. God had just saved the Israelites from the hands of the Egyptians, yet they readily embraced sin and turned their backs on Him. Many of us are not different, we have been graced to enjoy God’s love, but we consistently create graven images in our hearts that have become a god to us, thereby living a life we were not created to live. We have rejected the death of Jesus on the cross and the truth about his resurrection. Counterfeits are never real even though they look real. In other words, even though everything in your life seems to be working fine, you don’t have real life until you have eternal life. It’s only a matter of time, the life you have will fade away like counterfeit currency, but only those who have eternal life will stand.

My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. – John 10:27-28, NIV

Aaron was of great value in God’s plan for the Israelites, but he would not have lived up to it if it hadn’t been for God’s mercy. Sin makes us live below the value God has placed on us. The Israelites felt empty, without any purpose, and decided to fill that void by creating an idol to represent God. In the same vein, the devil keeps telling you lies that the answer to the void you feel in your life is to live contrary to God’s plan and desire for you. He wants to keep you busy abusing (ab-normal use) your life, don’t give him a chance! The devil was not just after the destiny of Aaron and the Israelites, he was after God’s plan because he understood the larger picture. Thankfully, the devil does not know everything, he will keep making attempts at offering you a counterfeit to what God has for you. He tried it with Jesus when Jesus was led into the wilderness after a forty-day fast, but he failed (Matthew 4:1-11). The wisdom of God surpasses the devil’s plans, that’s why he thought killing Jesus was a smart idea, but he did not know he was playing right into the hands of God’s wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:7-8). The death and resurrection of Jesus gives us new life.  We should be sober and reflect on the reason for his death and the life God wants us to live. From this moment, you can begin to live the life God has given to you through His son Jesus Christ. We can do this by first asking God for mercy, embracing the gift of salvation, and turning away from sin. God has a plan for your destiny and God has placed a premium value on your life, reject every attempt to live below the value God has placed on you.

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Prayer: Father Lord, if I’m on a path that leads to the life you haven’t destined for me, help me to see it and retrace my steps. Open my eyes to see who you have created me to be and teach me how to walk in it. Amen.