I wish I could take a vacation from life. I don’t mean that I am contemplating suicide, or that I need to relax on a sunny beach in
I see the Devil as a cigarette. He is like that one cigarette that you smoke just for the fun of it. It’s a little rough the first time but gives you a temporary high, and you look cool while doing it. But one is just not good enough. You have to smoke one again, even if it is just for another moment of fun or relaxation. But sooner or later you just keep smoking one after one, until your body craves the intoxicating ingredients in that one little stick of joy. Finally, you are addicted. But the real catch is, with every cigarette you inhale, your body is hurt. So while you are enjoying physical pleasure, that is only temporary, your body is suffering immensely. Sin is like that process. We are so prone to sin, that our body craves it, but we hurt every time sin is dabbled into. The Devil relishes in this weakness of ours.
I am tired of fighting, but mostly I am tired of loosing. I feel like I am living that moment in every super hero movie where the villain is kicking the butt of the hero, and the whole time you’re thinking, “Come on Hero it’s your job to win, you are supposed to win, you were meant to be stronger.” I am waiting for that final snap when the hero suddenly gets an extra boost of strength, and turns around and kicks the villain’s ass with one final blow.
While I hate the Devil with a passion, and I hate loosing to him, I hate the effect it has on God and my relationship with God. I know that God is testing me with every battle I have with the Devil, but I feel like I always fail His tests. Does God ever wonder, “Do you love me enough to resist this one temptation, this one time?” I feel like there is no hope, I will never show God how I truly love Him, and my love will never be good enough for God.
But that is the beauty of it all. No matter what we do, or have done, God loves us despite it all. His grace covers His loved ones, and He realizes that we are weak. But it is in our weakness, and our recognition of our need for Him, that we find a true freedom. I used to have a difficult time understanding the paradox of becoming a slave to God, but finding the ultimate freedom. How is being a slave supposed to help me obtain true freedom?
Galatians 3 talks about how because of Christ’s death on the cross, we are no longer under the curse of the law. I think the biggest lie the Devil tells me is that I am not truly saved or loved by God because I have committed too many sins, even as a supposed Christian. But the great thing is that when I ask for forgiveness, I get it. God, in his mind boggling mercy, forgives this great sinner, and loves me nevertheless.
So my final blow to the ultimate villain, the Devil, is reminding myself that I am free in Christ when I have faith in the one who sacrificed it all. Although I will never on earth be able to reach that fulfilling satisfaction of being perfect for God, I can be at peace knowing that God accepts me the way I am, and loves me with a love I will never fully comprehend.
Galatians 3:1-4
“For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?”
Galatians 3:22
“But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ
