Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) have become a hot topic for many people seeking to eat right and live a healthy life. There is a lot of information coming to light and many warnings about the dangers of modifying the genetics of our food supply. Personally, as I try to keep up with all the new health information and try to eat what is good and stay away from what is not, it seems like we will soon come to the place where we will have to quit eating in order to survive. I have actually had someone see me eating corn chips in my haystack (taco salad) at potluck and give me a short lecture on how dangerous my meal was because GMO corn was used to make the corn chips. I fondly remember the good old days when you were only a heretic for eating pork.

I agree that our bodies belong to God and we should do all we can to live as healthy as we can (see 1 Corinthians 10:31), but in the end we are still terminal. Our only hope is the coming of Jesus to take us out of this world. The use of GMO’s in our food supply is just another sign that this world cannot continue as it is. What bothers me most about GMO’s is that if they did not tell us they were modifying the food then we would never know. After all, doesn’t corn still look like corn? What makes the changes all the more dangerous is that the food still looks the same. I mean, if they were to inject a pig gene into corn for some reason and it grew and looked like a pork chop then we would know to stay away from it, but it still looks like corn!

However, the GMO’s that I am most worried about have nothing to do with our physical food. There are GMO’s that are even more dangerous than those affecting our food supply. Jesus gave a parable in Luke 8 about the sower sowing his seed on different types of ground. In verse eleven He says, “The seed is the word of God.” It is the modification of this seed that really concerns me, because the modification of this seed is destroying many for eternity. In the same way that the corn still looks like corn even after being modified, the seeds of God’s Word, though modified, still look the same!

The Bible warns us that in the last days we will be living in perilous times. (See 2 Timothy 3:1). As we read the Bible we could say, "Of course!" After all, it seems obvious to most of us that the closer we come to the end of time, the worse things are going to get. In 2 Timothy 3:2-4, Paul lists a lot of problems that he no doubt saw happening in his own day.

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

However verses 4 and 5 should cause us to pause. Verse 4 says men will be “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” In other words they will claim to love God, but love the pleasures of this world more. Then in verse 5, Paul makes a powerful prediction about what Christians will be like in the last days: “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” In other words, there will be people who are looking, acting, and talking like Christians, but they will be lacking the power that mark the Christ’s true followers.

Paul seems to be telling us the same thing Jesus warned about in Matthew 7:21-23. Jesus says there will be people who will call Him “Lord” but He will reply, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” These folks will also have a form of godliness. After all, they will do great works and claim Jesus is Lord. But Jesus will reject them. We see that there will be people who are deceived into thinking all is well, but will find out only too late that they are lost. This sounds a little scary. Imagine eating what you thought was healthy food, only to find out that you are now dying at an early age because the so-called healthy food you have been eating was in fact genetically modified. As a result, you are doomed.

The Word of God tells us that the devil works by deception. (See Revelation 12:9). He knows that most of us will not worship him as Satan, so he has to find a way to deceive us. Of course, the essence of deception is that you don’t know you are being deceived. So Satan works by modifying the seeds of God’s Word and many are eating it up! How can this be? The Word of God which never fails, predicted it would happen. It’s important for us not to modify the seeds of truth to suit our fancy, only to discover later that we are lost.

Look at these warnings God gave us against making modifications to His Word:

• Deuteronomy 4:2: Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

• Deuteronomy 12:32: What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

• Proverbs 30:5-6: Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

• Revelation 22:18-19 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

This world is corrupt and dying as a result of someone trying to modify the Word of God. God had warned Adam and Eve against eating from the tree in the middle of the garden, saying, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” The serpent modified God’s word by adding one word to what God had said: “Ye shall not surely die.” Here is the problem we have faced since our first parents were in the Garden of Eden and it will continue to be the issue that separates God’s people from Satan’s until the end of time. Those who choose to follow what the word of God says with no modifications will be taking the safe yet controversial course.

Today as Christians debate issues like creation and women’s ordination we find people trying to change or ignore what the Word of God says in order to be politically correct and convenient. But Romans 3:4 warns against that course in these words, “...let God be true, but every man a liar....” God’s warnings against modifying His Seed (Word) must be heeded. Whether we accept His Word and obey, or modify His word and disobey, will determine our ultimate destiny. It is a life and death issue.