Do you follow your horoscope? Since my birthday is coming soon — June 14th, and no presents, if you please — and I look forward to see what's going to happen.

Now to be clear, only once has mine been reasonably accurate. On that fateful day, my prediction read, 'You will meet a mysterious woman, have hit the lottery big time and take an exotic trip of your lifetime!' Well, on that day, my mother-inlaw asked me to drive her to the doctor for her annual check-up, the IRS said I only owed them $950 rather than the predicted $1,000 and I had to drive from Statesboro to Hinesville for a Presbytery meeting. I am now a skeptic.

I will correctly turn to Deuteronomy for some wisdom and how Moses looks at the future. 'God will raise up a prophet and you'd best listen to what he says!'

Those old Hebrews asked a very important question, 'Moses, there are men walking around who claim to be a prophet and don't have a true word to say. They speak well, but their words are false. How are we to know a good one from a bad one?'

Moses' answer leaves us speechless. 'How will you know? The words of a true prophet will come to pass and the words of a false prophet will not.'

Duh! In today's world, with so much information flying around and coming from hundreds of sources that all claim accuracy without provability, we are overwhelmed with bogus predictions and very difficult choices. I do not mean to discredit any source, but many believe that their news is true because their source said so.

Let's be totally up-front. Some claims are so ridiculous that even a child should be able to tell truth from lie, but then again, maybe not.

'Come on, now, John! We are educated folks, have the best information and can select the good from the bad!'

I'll tell you what. Drive over to Savannah and visit some of their very good book stores and you'll find they have hundreds of books that are best-sellers on how to plan your life by the stars, moon signs, rocks, tides, feelings, gurus and the latest mystics. Whether we admit it or not, there seems to be a need in each and every one of us to know what will take place in the future. Why? So I won't be surprised. We do get scared, worry, wonder what might happen and we want answers, that's all, even if our future is predictable.

Back to Moses. I wish that he would have said, 'While you are waiting to find out whether or not this prophet is truthful, do something. Don't just sit around! God gave us a brain, intelligence, reason and responsibility, so use it. If what this prophet says makes sense, do it. If what this prophet talks about sounds crazy, be very cautious.'

Let's all try this. What is this man, who claims to be truthful, saying? What is his authority? Who gave it to him? Is he really making sense or is he just appealing to my baser emotions like fear, guilt, suspicion? What is it he wants me to do? Does what he says balance out with what I know and believe to be true?

Hold on here! I believe that when we let someone make our choices for us, think for us or control us, we are in reality giving up God's gift to us ... the gift of free choice. And that is truly not easy and even problematic. We may choose that which is comfortable to hear, fits our old-fashioned way of doing things, enhances our private lives or even restricts other people's right to life.

Conclusion. We do need prophets, leaders, those who have the courage to challenge us, become angry with us and point us in the right direction. We must have the courage to speak out publicly when those leaders are wrong. Use your imaginations!

Here are God's Words for today and every day to come. Do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, for the right reason and the right purpose. Live for the now, don't dwell on the past and don't worry about the future.

God will take care of us. Thanks, God!