When
Evil Knocks
Your enemy the devil prowls around like
a roaring lion…resist him, standing firm in the faith.
1 Peter 5:8, 9
The heavy tapping sounded odd. With the
shades drawn, Nora couldn’t see who was at the door. Getting out of
the recliner, she drew back the curtain to get a look. Surprised by
what she saw, she involuntarily jumped back, ripping the curtain from
the window! Standing at the front door was a full-grown, Herford
bull!
Regaining her feet, Nora shoved the
recliner in front of the door and headed downstairs to alert her
mother.
Her abrupt arrival in the kitchen
startled Jane, “Honey, what’s wrong?”
“There’s a bull at the front
door!” took a moment to register.
“A what?!” Jane asked.
After assuring her mother she wasn’t
joking, they ascended the stairs. The bull was nowhere in sight. That
was when they heard the commotion downstairs. Descending the stairs,
they found the huge bull shoving at a storage bin on the back porch!
Realizing it was the Amish neighbor’s
bull, and he not having a telephone, they weighed their options,
anxiously discussing what they should do. Finally, Jane snuck out the
upstairs door to her car, and went to get the neighbor. After what
seemed like forever to Nora, Jane returned. As the man got out of the
car he cautioned Jane to wait in the car until he got the animal back
in the pasture, because as he put it, “That’s one evil bull!”
†
It would be great if everything
dangerous to our spiritual well-being could be identified this
easily. If so, we could imitate Nora’s response by barring the
door, refusing danger easy access. Then we could discuss our options
with God.
But, for the most part, Satan does not
roar; he prowls silently, using more subtle approaches that we fail
to recognize. Once inside the door, he is relentless.
Peter says to be alert in our efforts
to recognize Satan’s schemes, and to resist his tempting offers.
The only way to recognize such
deception is through a constant connection with the One Who reveals
evil’s true nature. Then when evil knocks…we’ll know to bar the
door.
Prayer
Lord, teach me to discern
the enemy’s subtle temptations, and give me the faith to resist his
lies. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment