Suppose You Receive a telephone call telling you that you've won $56,000 in a sweepstakes. All you have to do is to send $1,900 to pay taxes and other fees. An Illinois senior citizen who received such a call was suspicious and telephoned the sheriff's office. Sheriff's detectives learned from investigators that the sweepstakes was a scam, that "victims have been reported from all over the US and Canada and that the majority of them are senior citizens" (Chicago Tribune, November 16, 1999).

Or suppose that on the Internet you see that by sending an application fee of from $35–$40 you can qualify for a job stuffing envelopes at home and make between $2,500 and $4,500 a month. Looking into just such an offer, postal authorities have accused four Hollywood, California, men of "sending 50 million phony job offers to Internet users across the country" (Los Angeles Times, November 10, 1999).

Though older people are most ofter mentioned as the target, scams concern everyone and are a big enough problem that the United States Postal Service has sent a warning against them to every residential address. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that telemarketing fraud robs citizens of $40–$60 billion a year.

The temptation to accept an offer promising a lot of money quickly can be great, especially if one feels lonely or is impoverished. But it's comforting and a practical help to remember that God is infinite Love. God is already caring for your every need. Whatever your home or family situation, if someone offers you an opportunity that sounds too good to be true, take time to pray. Don't be hasty to answer. Listen, first, to what God is promising you. You are a child of God, created in God's likeness. You don't need to surrender your God-given wisdom and dominion at any time. Moses' advice to the children of Israel is good advice for us as well: "Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them" (Deut. 11:16).

God is always at our side, supplying all real good to His beloved children, including you and me. We can exercise good judgment and be in control of our lives—that is, we have spiritual discernment and a divine right to submit only to God, Spirit, and not to be tricked by dishonesty. The rewards for not giving in to fraudulent temptations are greater than just being saved from the scam itself. Each time we resist such temptations by declaring our right to serve God alone, we feel more of our oneness with our Father-Mother.

God gives you dominion over fear, too. If someone tries to frighten you into buying something or giving out important financial information, remember that you are safe and secure in God. Take a stand for your divine right to govern yourself. There is no need to be hasty or afraid. Evil cannot enter the kingdom of God, which is where each of us actually dwells. In God's kingdom all is spiritual and perfect, because nothing unlike God, who is all good, has reality or power. Evil stops appearing real to us as we become conscious of the reality of God's purity and goodness. And once we see evil's unreality, it loses its so-called power, or hold, over us. The Psalmist writes: "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. ... For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea,thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace" (Ps. 37:3, 4, 10, 11).

Jesus gave us a practical example that we can follow when he resisted the tempter's offer of "all the kingdoms of the world" if he would just bow down to him (see Matt. 4:8, 9). The riches and political power that were promised if he accepted the offer didn't deceive him. Jesus recognized the temptation as fraudulent. He knew that anything that tried to make him doubt his total trust in God was a fraud, a scam. He understood that he couldn't serve both God and the tempter. Compared to the spiritual riches that God was showering on Jesus—and that God pours out to each one of us—the reward offered by the tempter, even if the tempter could have delivered on his promise, was fragile and temporary.

Commenting upon God's infinite goodness, which Jesus prized above all else, Mary Baker Eddy writes: "God is Love. Can we ask Him to be more? God is intelligence. Can we inform the infinite Mind of anything He does not already comprehend? Do we expect to change perfection? Shall we plead for more at the open fount, which is pouring forth more than we accept?" (Science and Health, p. 2)

There is no richer reward than that which comes from understanding God as infinite Love, the ever-present wisdom and intelligence that surrounds each and every one of us every moment of every day. Jesus proved that this divine presence meets every human need with spiritual truths. He asked for no other reward. Thus, Jesus could say to the tempter, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." With the Master's rejection of the tempter, the devil left him "and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him" (Matt. 4:10, 11).

The Christ, God's message to man, was thoroughly revealed to us in the life of Christ Jesus, and this divine message is with us today. It is closer than our very breath, and it is what makes us yearn to please God and to understand His universal and impartial love. As we more and more show our love for God by following Jesus' devotion to good, we will naturally be wise and reject any temptation that would lead us away from the source of real good, spiritual good. Then scams, no matter how attractive, subtle, or forceful, will have no allure. We will be safe, knowing that God is always caring for us.