Resist the Devil
Beelzebub was back this morning. I cannot keep him away. I’ve tried. I’ve really tried. I’ve tried everything I can think of. I’ve pleaded with him to go away and leave me alone. I’ve yelled at him. I’ve renounced and denounced him. I’ve tried to pray him away. I asked for angels to encamp around my house and protect me from his daily intrusions. I’ve put up obstacles to keep him out, but he always finds a way in.
They say that one time, when he was awakened in the middle of the night by the devil, Martin Luther threw an inkwell at him. I use a fountain pen. I have an inkwell. Maybe I should throw it at my Beelzebub. But I’m sure I’d miss and just make a mess.
My Beelzebub reminds me of the devil. He is persistent. He is tenacious. He never quits coming back here. Day after day, he keeps coming back.
Peter wrote that the devil “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Matthew Henry, commenting on this verse, said that the devil does not get weary, and he does not rest in his “malicious endeavors.” Day and night, he seeks and studies who it is that he might ensnare and ruin.
So, what should we do?
We should be aware that we do have a real enemy who seeks our ruin, and we must be watchful.
I have two sons and a daughter-in-law who either have served or are currently serving in the US Navy. When a ship is underway there are sailors standing the watch, 24-hours a day, looking for threats.
“Be sober-minded. Be watchful,” warned Peter (1 Peter 5:8). We must always be wary. What are the sins and temptations likely to draw us away from devoted, joyful obedience to God? Be prepared to resist!
“Resist him,” said Peter (1 Peter 5:9). “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you,” wrote James (James 4:7).
What does it mean to resist? Is it gritting your teeth and refusing to give in to temptation? Do we “just say no” to sin? Is that what it takes to resist the devil? Should we, as a friend says, “try harder to get gooder?”
In both the 1 Peter 5 and the James 4 passages resisting seems to be less about what we do and more about what God does for us. Resisting the devil is in some way connected to humility and dependence upon him.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God…casting all your anxieties on him…and after you have suffered a little while [it is] the God of all grace who…will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you” (1 Peter 5:6-10).
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God….Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you…humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:6-10).
How do you resist the devil? It is not just by trying harder to turn away from sin and temptation, not just by trying to be good.
Humble yourself – admit that you cannot, on your own, resist.
Submit yourself to God – know that through Christ, by his grace, you can.
In a life of dependence on God, through Christ, we are set free from sin and temptation. I am so glad I can cast myself upon the Lord in my struggles with the devil, who will fight for and defend me.
Now if there was only some way to be delivered from my Beelzebub, that voracious, incessant, wicked, squirrel who will not stay out of our bird feeder.
There he is now, back once more, perched on the edge of the feeder, eating my birdseed and laughing at me. Oh, wretched man that I am, who can deliver me from this evil?
Much love, Barry
Please click here to see our March Newsletter for opportunities to pray for our ministries.