Twice during my many years of teaching in Christian university classrooms, a U.S. Federal Reserve Bank employee took different classes from me. She was delightful and we enjoyed insightful conversations. The other students loved asking her questions. Our favorite was the day one asked how Federal Reserve employees are trained to recognizing counterfeit money. My students were sure she and her cohorts spent hours and days studying false currencies.

“Not at all,” she said. “We don’t waste any time looking at the poor amateur printing attempts out there. They train us well by giving us long sessions to learn the sight and feel of only the true currency—the paper’s color, weight, thickness, feel, texture, printing, shading, even its aroma—everything about it, so that any time we see or handle the false, we instantly know the difference.” She laughed. “You can’t fool us. We spend our time studying the true so thoroughly, that nothing else measures up.”

What a profound answer. That truth also applies to the many religious counterfeits out there. Don’t get distracted, confused, or turned aside by noticing strange variations—even those that look close to true. None of them matter. Study the living word, its ring of truth, how it reveals the redeeming Savior we walk and talk with daily who alone gives life. Nothing and no one else is worth our attention.