“The Bible names a real and present foe of our faith: the devil. . . . The devil is a splitter, a divider, a wedge driver. . . . He wants to take unbelievers to hell and make life hell for believers.”- Mas Lucado
“Our fight is not against people on earth, but against rulers and authorities and powers of this world’s darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world. That is why you need to put on God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil you will be able to stand strong.”- Ephesians 6:12-13 (New Century Version)
In Chapter 3 (“The Devil’s Days Are Numbered”) of Unshakable Hope, Max Lucado takes us back to July 21, 1861. Since it was a quiet and sunny day, residents of Washington, D. C. prepared for a picnic in the countryside. And the beautiful place they picked to unpack their baskets – a battlefield, Manassas. They intended to sit on their blankets, eat chicken, and watch the battle from a distance.
However, reality soon set in. When the gunfire started, blood spilled, and wounded soldiers screamed, people realized this was no picnic. They quickly packed up and left.
Yet, Pastor Lucado asks, do we embrace a similar false assumption? Do we believe that Satan’s real? According to 2009 research the Barna Group conducted, four out of ten Christians consider Satan merely a symbol of evil. In contrast, a minority of Christians (35%) believe Satan is real. In other words, most Christians refuse to believe that Satan exists. Thus, Max explains the consequences of this deception, and why this greatly pleases Satan:
“As long as he (Satan) isn’t taken seriously, he is free to work his evil. After all, if you can’t diagnose the source of your ills, how can you fight them? The devil wants to make your life a mess and to keep his name out of it. But God doesn’t let him do so.”
Today’s question: Do you consider the devil a real and present foe of your faith? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The enemy of your God-given destiny”
