"...That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting..." (Eph. 4:14). "But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." (2 Tim. 3:13)

High waves on the sea were giving a ship great difficulty as it was being slowly guided into a rocky harbor. The Captain of the ship standing on the bow with binoculars was carefully watching every rock that intruded out of the water. One of the passengers being sorely frightened came to the Captain and said, "Sir, do you know where all the rocks are?" The Captain answered, "No, I don't know where all the rocks are." The passenger replied, "If you don't know where all the rocks are, what's to keep us from shipwreck?" The Captain answered, "I know where the safe channel is."

Likewise, regarding the religions of our time, we don't need to know where all the rocks are. There are hundreds, even thousands, of false doctrines being taught and practiced today, and we don't need to familiarize ourselves with them, nor waste our time studying them. After using up a lifetime in acquainting ourselves with them, evil men would only have that many more for us to learn. However, we do need to know where the safe channel is. We need to be thoroughly acquainted with the safe channel (the holy Scriptures) so that we can follow in the Way that leads to life.