So Many Choices

I was just up to my normal mischief. It was last Friday at a nearby Target store and I was shopping through the clearance aisles with my six year old niece Addi. Addi had five dollars to spend. I made a challenge with myself to see how many times I could convince her to go back to her mom to see if she could exchange what she was going to buy with some replacement item. Addi started with five things from the dollar bin. Then she had a Camp Rock game, Then a High School Musical Game, Then another High School Musical Game with one item from the dollar bin, Then she had a bouncy ball for herself and her brother. I don’t know what she ended with—- My sister and wife dragged me away because I was having way too much fun. That got me to thinking… Isn’t this what God was talking about when he talked about growing to manhood so that we are not carried away by every wind of doctrine? Ephesians 4:13-14. All I had to do to get Addi to switch from one item to the other is to market to a young child that what she had was not as good as what she could have. I believe that this is the very core of the Devil’s arsenal. How So?

1. The devil will convince us that the Lord’s church is not as good as many denominations. Christ said that He would build His Church on the solemn statement that He was the Christ the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16-18) It is simplistic in nature, but bears constant repetition that Christ only intended to build a singular church. Any perversion of the desires of our Christ is a perversion of the will of God. Contrary to popular belief, denominationalism is found in the New Testament and it is expressly condemned as a fierce wolf: Acts 20:28-31 “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. (29) I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; (30) and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. (31) Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears.”
2. The devil will convince us that our spouse is not as good as we should have and we should find another. Working in homes and investigating child abuse revealed a world full of people who have chosen to “find greener grass” by seeking out a new spouse. Very few serious child abuse situations involved families with one husband and one wife as God expressed in his divine plan. The bottom line is that the green grass is usually spray-painted! The pain of divorce in this world has cut so deeply that it has almost become an accepted afterthought. Let us seek to make our marriages wholesome. Let us be Godly people doing Godly things and not reaching after something that appears good for awhile but fades in an instant!
3. The devil will convince us that a life of consecration and sobriety is not as good as a life of partying and alcohol. Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. Books could not contain the examples of homes that are torn apart by a life of partying, drinking and drugs. Satan brings in alcohol and drugs gradually and he is relentless once he has a grip on you. Don’t be deceived, this life is no more rewarding while on this earth and it’s punishment is eternal. Seek to not put yourself in situations where the temptation is present and replace it with wholesome activities that glorify God.
4. The devil will convince us that following God is not as good as following him. The devil offers something that God can simply not offer. Instant Satisfaction. If you like it, take it! And take it as much as you would like and as often as you would like. This is the very trick that Satan used to produce the world’s first sin as he convinced Eve that she should not be restrained form any fruit in the garden. Let us seek to grow to the point that we are not tempted by the desire to be satisfied instantly but rather let us desire to give God the glory and have Him satisfy us with food and drink that makes us hunger and thirst no more.
Ephesians 4:13-15 “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, (14) so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (15) Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ”
I pray that, through study and prayer, we all mature into the children of God that He desires us to be.