by Justin Morton
The Bible teaches us that Satan walks around as a roaring lion, always on the prowl (I Pet. 5:8). He wants nothing more than to devour Christians and their relationships with God. The stronger and more faithful a Christian is, the more furiously Satan tries to attack us. We must be alert and always on guard so that we do not fall prey to Satan’s schemes to derail our lives.
Satan, the father of lies (Jn. 8:44), uses many tactics to fracture our relationship to God, but let me give you two simple means he often employs. First, Satan makes Christians think sin is not a big deal. He uses our family, friends, media and advertisements to get us to buy into the lie. We must always be mindful of the seriousness of sin. Lot’s wife (Gen. 19), Achan (Jos. 6 & 7) and Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) all learned firsthand how serious sin is. Friends, sin is so serious it was the reason Jesus was nailed to a cross and crucified. We should always remember: the wages of sin brings about death (Rom. 6:23).
The second way Satan derails our Christian lives is by causing us to believe we have all the time in the world. Many of us envision living a long life of 70-80 years and then passing on peacefully. Satan uses this to his advantage. He wants us to believe we have all the time in the world to enjoy the things of this life. Then when we get closer to the end of our time on earth, we can get our relationship with God in order. Unfortunately, too many have bought into this lie. We are not promised tomorrow. James tells us our lives are but a vapor or a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes away (Jam. 4:13-15). We must guard against thinking we have plenty of time to make things right with God. The truth is, we do not know how much or how little time we have, thus, the importance of making sure our relationship with God is in a right condition this very minute.
Whether we realize it or not, Satan is prowling around looking to destroy our relationship with God. He wants to devour that relationship, and he will if we give him the opportunity. Let’s constantly be on guard and avoid the lies Satan tries to get us to believe so we can continue to walk in the light with our God!