In the
process of moving from one house to another, my husband went back for yet
another load of boxes. As he opened the house door, his arms encumbered with a
teetering stack of our worldly treasures, he noticed a black racer snake paused
just outside. In a flash, the racy reptile slipped between his feet and into the
house.
Gently
tossing the boxes into our vehicle, he hurried in hot pursuit of the sleek,
slithering black ribbon. By this time the snake was scared out of his mind and
his only thought was, “Get me out of here!” Through several rooms in the house,
this awkward duo danced a duet, trying to outsmart one another.
Finally,
with a stroke of genius, my husband opened the front door again and got behind
the snake. The wary hunter paused for just a moment, eyeing up his options,
then raced through the gaping opening in seconds and sought cover in the garden
plants.
This
detour in his plans and the adrenalin of his pursuit caused my husband to grab
a drink of water and sit to rest in the only chair left in our house. Satan
does this very thing in our lives. He lurks just outside the door to our soul –
our mind, will and emotions, and waits for the narrowest opening to dart right
in and cause havoc in our life.
He gives
us a merry chase, taxing our spiritual power and exhausting our soul’s supply
of energy. Without wisdom from above, he might get the upper hand; but if we
seek God’s counsel, the Lord always shows us how to defeat the devil’s schemes (James 4:7). Even better, we can prevent his
entrance by keeping a vigilant watch over the door to our soul (Proverbs 4:23).
Prayer:
Father
God, if we wear the full armor You provided for us, polished and ready for
battle, we can stand our ground, protected from the wily snares of the devil (Ephesians 6:13; 2 Timothy 2: 26). We have no need to fear, because
Christ in us is greater than Satan and his hoard of demons (1 John 4:4). Jesus already won the victory over
sin and death and His divinity abides in each one of us (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Thought
for the Day:
As we submit
to God, and resist the devil, he has to flee from us.
– James
4:7
