Take That!

Eph. 6: 17 And take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

The Big Fight; that’s what it means. Of course, the theological folks like to call it the Great Controversy. Same thing. We are all in a fight. Satan hijacked this planet long ago and decided that all of us should go to hell with him. God loved the world, so Jesus came to save us. He has already done what He needed to do. Every one of us has a chance to be saved. All we need to do is to accept the life that Jesus offers instead of the life we are tempted to live.

So, the fight still goes on but it is now a fight for your attention and your loyalty. God and the devil are fighting over you, fighting to get you to make a choice for Heaven or for Hell. In the end, it is a matter of your choice! You are in the fight. You can’t escape it. Every day, every moment the devil is tempting us to choose things that are against the will of God and the plan of salvation. We need to fight to survive spiritually. But how can we fight against such a strong enemy? Many people get frightened and just give up, but you don’t have to.

When Jesus came to earth to live and die for us, He had to fight as well. In fact, He had to fight harder, because the devil knew that if He could get Jesus to sin He would have all of us in one shot! But Jesus had a powerful weapon and He used it to beat Satan. Matthew chapter 4 tells of how Jesus fought. When Satan attacked Him, He said, “It is written…” He quoted scripture. Jesus read the scriptures and memorized texts and passages. So each time the devil came He pulled out a scripture text. “It is written” – bam! Take that! “It is written” and that! “It is written”!

Jesus used scripture against Satan and He was able to defeat Him. That same weapon is available for you and me. If you find that you are losing the fight against temptation, maybe it is time you begin to follow Jesus example. Study the Bible. Memorize a text each day. It is your secret weapon; your sword – the word of God. Hit the devil with. Bam! Take that! You will be a winner.

Lord, thank you for this powerful weapon. Teach me how to use it as I fight against Satan every day, in Jesus’ name, amen.