“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” – John 10:10
Since the beginning of time, the devil has always had a mission: to steal, kill, and destroy. He wants to destroy the abundant and blessed life that Jesus has promised and given to us. It’s Satan’s goal to make us miserable, just as he is. One of his instruments to do this is by deceiving us and making us walk in darkness.
We all know that walking safely in darkness without any light is very difficult, if not impossible. It’s almost sure that we would stumble or hurt ourselves if we don’t have any source of light to guide us on our way. This is what the devil wants. He wants us to fall. He wants us to stumble. He wants to take us into the darkness. But the good news is: Jesus wants to take us into the light. This is why He said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” (John 8:12)
But what does it mean to walk in the light? And how do we actually avoid the enemy’s trap of deception?
Follow the Light
What leads to a full and satisfying life? LIGHT and TRUTH.
God’s Word tells us that His Word is like a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. (Psalm 119:105) If we want to avoid the darkness, we must stick to where the light is. God’s Word is the light that illuminates our dark paths and shows us which way to go.
If we want to avoid getting deceived by the enemy’s lies, it is important that we only follow the light – that we do only what God says in His Word. The devil will not be able to deceive us if we know the truth – if our minds are lit with every Word that comes from the very mouth of God.
God’s light is truth, and truth and light leads to life.(John 8:12) Remember: Jesus will never lead us down the wrong path. If we follow Him and His Words, we will never be deceived. If we keep following the light, we will never stumble.
Hear the Truth
To know the truth, we must listen to JESUS. It is imperative that we give attention to the words of Jesus. Part of why we are so confused in our culture and why we are so confused as Christians is because we spend way more time listening to the news on TV, in the newspaper, or other people’s opinions and very little time and attention to the One who says, “I am the light of the world.” We’d rather listen to fake news and opinions of people who don’t even know us than spend time listening to the One who made us and knows us intimately. It’s no wonder we easily get deceived so easily.
If we want to avoid being victims of the devil’s deception, we need to spend more time hearing the TRUTH from God, rather than listening to the Iies and the perverted truth from the enemy, who as we know is the father of lies. (John 8:44)
Most importantly, we have to be able to identify God’s TRUTH from perverted truth. Perverted truth makes us think that we are on the right side, when we’re actually deceived. Much like the Pharisees, it makes us blind to the truth and makes us prone to self-righteousness and pride. This is why we need to HEAR God’s voice. The more we hear His voice, the more we get familiar with His Words and truth, the more we’ll be able to identify the lies and deception of the enemy.
Challenge: Go to God’s Word and believe that as you spend time with His light and truth, He will speak a word that will help you see light and know the truth, a word that will help you to follow Him and trust Him more.
