March 20 Resist!
Luke 8
The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes
and takes away the word from their hearts,
so that they may not believe and be saved. (Luke 8:12)
The devil is a liar. We all know this. But, the devil’s lies are more than just half-truths; they are death blows. By luring people into doubt, and even into unbelief, he is removing the instrument through which God saves us – our faith. The devil is a murderer. He has been from the beginning.
The devil knows he’s lost, but he’s not going down without a fight. He’s going to devour as many people as he can. He has the perfect, time-tested tool to do it, too: “Did God really say…?” It works like a charm.
There are variations on this, of course. The devil is a wily foe. “The Bible is boring,” he’ll say. “It’s a dusty, old, irrelevant book. Nobody who’s seriously studied it thinks it’s actually true.” When he has you believing that, he’ll point you toward something else. Work. Money. Sex. Entertainment. Next thing you know, you haven’t opened that dusty old book in months, and your faith has all but disappeared.
St. James tells us “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (4:7) It is good to have The Lord’s Word in our eyes, in our ears, and on our lips at all times for this purpose. We don’t have to defeat him – Jesus did that on the cross – we need only to resist him. Your faith is a precious, saving gift from God. Use God’s Word to feed it and defend it. The devil will flee.
Prayer: Almighty God, keep me steadfast in Your Word.
Grow my faith so that I might resist the devil and all his murderous lies. Amen.
