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Stacy Finley knew people would go to any lengths and pay exorbitant sums of money for the promise of good health without surrendering their habits of unhealthy living. In 2001, at the age of 28, in the rural community of Farmerville, Louisiana, she embarked upon her scheme. She convinced her friends and the other 4,300 residents that she was a secret CIA agent. Because of her status in the agency, or the "Company" as insiders called it, she had access to their super secret health monitoring satellites. If she was paid a small fee, just enough to cover her personal expenses, she would have the satellites monitor the participants' health. Then, at night, while they slept, a CIA agent would sneak into their home and administer secret health preventing drugs that only the CIA possessed. The agent would then depart totally unnoticed. A subscriber would wake in the morning assured of longevity. Before the scam was unveiled Finley acquired more than one million dollars. Many individuals in Farmerville had depleted their life savings, others were in debt, and some took out second mortgages on their homes, all in the expectation of easy acquisition of good health.
It is troubling to know why people would believe such a lie. Many reasons could be offered, but most certainly one was the assurance of good health absent of healthy living. This was the quandary that Jeremiah found himself in. Why would the Israelites forsake the living God of their ancestors to worship false gods that were idols made with human hands? There would also be many answers to this question, one of which is the promise of earthly treasures absent of the demands of Yahweh. Idolatry presents itself in many forms, but most assuredly underneath each is the exchange of truth for a lie.
It is troubling to know why people would believe such a lie. Many reasons could be offered, but most certainly one was the assurance of good health absent of healthy living. This was the quandary that Jeremiah found himself in. Why would the Israelites forsake the living God of their ancestors to worship false gods that were idols made with human hands? There would also be many answers to this question, one of which is the promise of earthly treasures absent of the demands of Yahweh. Idolatry presents itself in many forms, but most assuredly underneath each is the exchange of truth for a lie.
