There have been many movies made glorifying master-thieves. Those adventurous movies may be okay on a screen, but in real life burglars give most of us the creeps. There are all kinds of reasons a burglar would break into your house, but the crazy thing is many detectives claim that many thieves prefer to target the same house repeatedly. It may seem odd, but here are the reasons why: familiarity and the expectation that you’ll replace expensive items.
Why wouldn’t more homeowners take precautions so there wouldn’t be a second time? Who knows, but consider the burglary of your soul. Why are so many people easily lured away from faith in God? How is Satan so successful?
Jesus was accused of working for Satan, but Jesus gave an illustration that might answer how a person protects against spiritual burglary. Luke 11:21-22, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.” In context, Jesus is the “stronger man” taking away the power of Satan. But the illustration should be understood -- that anyone who wants to protect his house better be prepared.
Satan doesn’t plan on easily giving up those he’s deceived. He’s a master thief that works rigorously to plunder your goods. The reality is that Satan is “roaming around looking to devour someone,” and his likely victim is the unprepared person.
Time after time we’re told to be “sober and alert,” “to stand firm,” or “prepare your minds for action.” As followers of Christ, we’re given that protection from God. We see how Jesus modeled His use of Biblical wisdom to fight off an attack from Satan while fasting in the wilderness (Matthew 4). More detail for us is given in Ephesians 6:10-17 on how to don the armor of God.
Jesus spent three years teaching His disciples how to pray (Luke 11), and instructing them on mission work (Luke 10), and even how to stay faithful during persecution (1 Peter 2:21). All of these kinds of things help to keep us in His protection. Yet so many Christians go about their life without taking serious measures to keep Satan out of their life. They often decided to walk in complete “ignorance of his schemes,” making them easy targets.
Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be looking into the realities of Satan’s attack from a historical and modern perspective. The Bible reveals so much about our adversary for a good reason. Join us as we study about the spiritual war we are engaged in.
No comments:
Post a Comment