Don't Flirt With The Devil

1 Peter (5:8-9)

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

James (4:7)

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Satan is a formidable enemy, to be sure, but in a personal sense, he is not as directly dangerous to us as the world or our own human nature. The chances of him confronting us individually are small in comparison to the influences of our ever-present hearts and the world in which we conduct our lives. Certainly, as our Adversary, he "walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour".  But unlike God, he is not omniscient. While he can be only at one place at one time, he has many assistants.

We are far more likely to be confronted by one of his demon assistants than the Adversary himself, which is bad enough. However, he and his demons have constructed attitudes, institutions, systems, and entertainments into the course of this world, which they effectively use against us, even when they are absent from the scene. Most of their evil influence comes from the system.

We need to remember, though, that God has put a wall of protection around us, so demons can go only so far in their attempts to corrupt us and destroy our loyalty to God and His truth. Their major responsibility before God at this time appears to be to provide tests for us to meet and overcome, in the same way God used Satan to test Job and to tempt Christ. In this respect, they play a large role in helping us to recognize evil.

Resist the devil', stand steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world." Be self-controlled, be alert, and resist him!" Peter's first term, "be sober," urges us not to let fear of him fluster us to the point that we cannot think clearly. The second term, "be vigilant," charges us to be fully awake, to set ourselves in a state of watchfulness and readiness. The third term, "resist him," is a command not to turn and run but to stand firm.
This instruction lets us know that Satan is not all-powerful. With the protections God provides, including His continuous presence and alert regard for His children, Satan can be beaten. The same Jesus who has already defeated Satan is on His throne, overseeing our well-being. His protection is not something we flaunt, but is power we can rely on.

How, then, do we resist? How do we hold our ground by going on the offensive?We must "Resist him, standing firm, 'or solid'  in the faith." Putting this into military terms, a soldier would be likely commanded, "Do not surrender! Do not give up any ground! Do not back down! Move forward with all you've got! Reinforcements are right behind you."

We have the God-backed promise that Satan will flee! Who can resist God's will? The key words here are "standing firm" and "faith." "Standing firm" or "solid" is used in the sense of "unmovable." When linked with faith in practical terms, it means we are absolutely sure or immovably convicted in the face of a strong test.

As true Christians in the faith, we must be the one's who chooses to live a righteous life, the one's who consciously resists the subtle inroads of compromise. God envisions a person who remains wary of anything that might erode commitment to a godly life.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! Psalm (1:1)

There is a progressive deterioration toward more involvement in sinful living! The casual passerby slows down and, before you know it, he takes his stand.

On the other hand, by taking a firm stand for righteousness, we will be "like a tree firmly planted by streams of water"--one that cannot be eroded by the winds of wickedness and unrighteousness.

Unfortunately there seems to be a permanent settling down, an abiding, a permanent dwelling. Don't live your way of life in the sphere of "the scoffer," the one who continually makes light of that which is sacred--the blasphemous crowd.

We shall be happy many times over if we maintain a pure walk with our Lord, free from even the slightest flirtation with evil. If we begin to "walk" in "the counsel of the wicked," it is easy to slip slowly into the habitation of the scoffer.

Reverend William Bowers