SATAN AND HIS TEMPTATIONS ARE RELENTLESS, AREN’T THEY?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls
around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
(1 Peter5:8)

MEDITATION:
We’ve all been there, haven’t we? We believe that Jesus is the Son
of God, that He became our sacrifice for sin and was crucified for
our transgressions, that He was resurrected and is now sitting with
God the Father in Heaven, and that He is coming back one day to
welcome home those who belong to Him.

But even with our beliefs and our attempts to become more like the
One we believe in, there is still an area of our life that keeps trying
to pull us in another direction – away from the Lord. It could be the
same struggle that others we know are going through, or it could be
something different for us, but the struggle is real, because Satan
and his workers are real.

It seems that our lives have become a never ending journey of peaks
and valleys. We find that our peaks are when we feel closer to the
Lord, and we discover that our valleys are when we are ‘entertaining’
the sin which so easily entangles us (which serves as a reminder of the
cleverness and power of Satan and his schemes).

With those thoughts in mind, what is the root cause that takes us from
a peak to a valley? Isn’t it a result of our own choices? In other words,
we are on a peak and for whatever reason, we choose to have a ‘snack’
with the sin that we know can wrap its chains around us and change
our struggle to become more righteous, into a new struggle of trying 
to break free from the bondage of Satan.
    Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud
    of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and
    the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with
    perseverance the race marked out for us, (Hebrews 12:1)

We have to admit that it is easier to strive to become more like Jesus,
if we are not having to also spend time trying to break the chains that
are pulling us in an opposite direction. It’s like we are a piece of metal
standing between two powerful magnets, isn’t it?

If one magnet is removed, we can easily be moved toward the other one.
If the one removed is from Satan, then we will move closer to the Lord,
and of course, if the one removed is from the Lord, we will slide closer
to the influence and control of Satan.
    You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you
    were influenced and led astray to mute idols. But I am afraid
    that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your
    minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure
    devotion to Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:2-3)

Now, back to the ‘snack’ with our weakness to sin, why would we make
that choice? It could be that we have developed a confidence that we
have overcome that particular sin, and we want to prove to ourselves
that it can no longer control our life. As a result, even though we know
we have done this before, we want to prove to ourselves that a particular
sin will no longer have dominion over us.

But what happens with this little snack? It can be similar to when we
have decided that we are going to stop eating as much but then someone
puts chips and dip in front of us. We might say that we will only eat one
chip, but we know that’s not going to be the end of it, don’t we? Later,
we are disappointed and frustrated over our lack of self-control.

It’s the same when we ‘sample’ the sin that is stronger than our ability
to resist. What we thought would be a brief ‘snack with sin’, becomes
a full meal and eventually a feast. And how do we feel afterward? We
feel guiltiness for failing, and we know that we will be in a struggle to
return to where we were before tasting that sin again.

Another reason we might choose what we know we should avoid
completely is, we convince ourselves that we can ‘sample’ it for a
brief moment of pleasure without being controlled by it again. In
other words, we remember the pleasure we had when it had full
control over us, and we want ‘just a little’ of that pleasure again.

The scriptures give us some warnings about this kind of thinking.
God’s Word warns us about spending any time with one of Satan’s
weapons which can seize control of our lives again.
    Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
    (1 Corinthians 15:33)

We are given strong advice about our struggle with sin that can
damage our relationship and fellowship with the Lord. We are
reminded that we have been doing well at resisting a particular
temptation, so don’t reach for it again. Instead, we need to leave
the dark deed in the dark, and continue to focus on the light of
pursuing the righteousness of Jesus.
    The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.
    So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put
    on the armor of light. (Romans 13:12)

We might think that we are doing okay with our own plans for
dealing with a pervasive and influential sin in our life, but the
scriptures remind us of what will happen, and in many of us it
is something that has happened countless times before.
    You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to
    keep you from obeying the truth? (Galatians 5:7)

Not only will our ‘snack time’ bring an end to the good race we
have been running toward the purity and righteousness of Jesus,
but it will ‘turn us around’ and provide us with all kinds of reasons
to stop obeying what we know is right.

Try to visualize the previous scripture. We see a person chasing after
righteousness and getting closer to it daily, but suddenly they not only
stop running, but they turn and start walking, and then running in the
opposite direction.

ACTION:
The battle is real! Since Satan tried to tempt Jesus, then certainly
he is going to tempt you and me often. We have all heard the phrase,
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a
different result”. This certainly applies to how we struggle and
fail in our attempts to “snack” with sin, doesn’t it?

We only need to recall our past failures to be reminded that the same
thing will happen again. Our challenge is to ‘continue running the race’
toward righteousness, and to not allow bad choices to discourage us
and cause us to change the direction we are headed. We experienced
guilt and disappointment in our previous attempts to ‘play with’ sin,
and we will feel the same way if we do it again.

Think about this, one of the ‘pet’ thoughts Satan likes to plant
in our minds is, “Just one more time”. Why? Because he knows
it gives him access to creating a foothold, which eventually leads
to establishing a stronghold, and at that point we are once again
prisoners of his bondage.

Our best defense against repeated failures is to guard our mind
from entertaining these thoughts. The scriptures make it clear 
that sinful thoughts will enter our minds, and it is how we handle
them when they do, that is most important.

The best defense we have is to fill our mind with so much
righteousness that there is no room left for unrighteous
thoughts to find a home in us. Reading God’s Word and
praying are weapons for escorting these sinful thoughts
out of our mind when they appear.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, You know the cleverness of the evil
one and You know how I struggle in my efforts to resist
his schemes for controlling my life. My desire is to increase
my fellowship with You and not to be subjected to the
bondage of Satan. I pray that You would fill me to an
overflow with the Holy Spirit so I will not continue to
make the same choices in the future which cause me
to fail and damage my relationship with You.”