Growing up, one of my favorite comedians was Flip Wilson.  I particularly enjoyed the sketch he did about a pastor whose wife had a penchant for buying dresses.  The line made famous by that sketch–so much so that it became part of popular culture–was “The devil made me do it.”

The last petition of the Lord’s Prayer is “and deliver us from the evil one.”  It’s a fitting “partner” to the previous petition about temptation and a reminder that the devil can’t make us do anything.  However, the earnestness of the plea for deliverance from Satan is also a reminder that we need to take the threat seriously–very seriously.

Keith Green had a song called, “No One Believes in Me Anymore,” in which Satan relishes in the fact that people no longer believe he is real–to the doubters about the devil, he is nothing more than a fairytale relic from a bygone era when people were not smart enough, sophisticated enough, or educated enough to think that he was anything but real.  But if Satan is not real–and if evil is not real–then how do we explain ALL the evidence in the world to the contrary.  We may not be able to see Satan, but we can certainly see his handiwork, just like I can’t see the people who made the computer I’m working on, but I know they exist because I see the result.  The Bible calls Satan a “liar” and “the father of lies,” and his most basic lie these days is that he doesn’t even exist.  Jesus, of course, had no doubts–no naiveté.  And if Jesus had no illusions about the reality of the demonic, why should we?

In Ephesians 6:12, Paul writes:  “Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  The battle is real, and failure to take it seriously has dire consequences.  In light of that, here are a few reminders of how to be aware and prepared–and they’re not that different from what we do to fight temptation.

  • Recognize that Satan is out to destroy, and that any one of us can be a target.
  • Recognize the evil is nothing to play with, and that Satan never fights “fairly.”
  • Know the (biblical) truth, and pursue God’s righteousness.
  • Trust God–not yourself–and pray.

Above all, remember that Satan is a defeated enemy!  One of my former pastors, Mark Killam, used to say, “Give the devil his due, but don’t give him more than his due!”  I like that.  Colossians 2:15 says that Jesus Christ has “disarmed the powers and authorities [and made] a public spectactle of them, trimphing over them by the cross.”  Along with I John 4:4, which tells us that “greater is He that is in us than he who is in the world,” we need not fear.  We can resist.  We can triumph–but not by our power.  We triumph only by the power of Jesus Christ living in us.