Today is the day after my granddaughter’s birthday. I was not able to attend her birthday party last night, so I told her I would bring by a birthday gift today after school. I called her mother on her cell phone and told her what I was going to do. She said that was fine. I said that I would be at the house waiting in the car when the girls get home so I can drop off the gift.

I reached the house, and a car was in the double-car driveway, and I knew the mother would be home in a few minutes; so I backed out of the driveway and parked along the curb on the street. When I looked up, I saw a sign that said, "No Parking This Side of Street," so I turned around and parked on the opposite side of the street not too far from their house.

Now, here I am, an old man, sitting alone in a car at the very time when little girls and boys are getting out of school. Of course, I was not thinking of that at first. In just a couple of minutes (which seemed to be a little early) I saw a girl cross the street behind me. It was my granddaughter, who was sister to the one having the birthday. She did not see me, so I said, "hey." She looked at me, and then she turned her head away. I said her name in a sort of questioning way, and she said, "No."

Now I am wondering why my granddaughter does not want to speak to me. So, I said, "You are not _______________?" She said, "No." I said, "Well, you look just like her;" and she did, except her hair was shorter. I just thought my granddaughter had got her hair cut. I asked the girl if she knew my granddaughter, and she said she was going to her house. The resemblance was scarey! I could not believe my eyes! I told the young girl who I was and why I was parked there.

In about two minutes my two granddaughters came walking home from school from just two or three blocks away. The girl with whom I had spoken was walking with them at this time, and I overheard the girl say, "Your grandpa scared me to death."

Now, here I was sitting in a car alone, an old man of 61 years old, just after school was dismissed, and this girl saw me sitting there and began to speak to her. This must have truly scared the poor little thing. We had a little laugh out of it after my granddaughters got there, but, boy, what an experience. I thought she was my granddaughter, and she thought I was a dirty old man. They looked like twins standing there together.

The point to this is that, sometimes we look at things and see things that we seem to see, but things are not always as they seem. She was NOT my granddaughter, though I would have bet $10.00 that she was (if I were a gambling man, which I am not), and she would have, no doubt, bet more that I was a dirty old man; but I was not the dirty old man she thought I was.

Truth and error are much like that. You see error, and many times it looks so much like the truth that you will without delay accept it. But it is so important that we know truth from error. Paul talked much about this in the New Testament. That is why we need to study the word of God: 2 Tim. 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Jesus said in John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Remember, things are not always what they seem. Know the truth, not something that looks something like the truth. Jesus said in Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.