I know this is going to date me but, do you remember the old Flip Wilson show on television? Probably if you're over 40 years old you'll recall seeing it and you'll also recall "Geraldine," one of the characters that he played. "She" was always doing something wrong and getting caught at it and her standard excuse was, "The devil made me do it."
Well, that might have worked for "Geraldine," but alas, it won't work for us. You see, the devil can't "make" us do anything. But he sure knows how to entice us to do the things he'd like to see us do. He just seems to know which buttons to push, doesn't he? It's like he knows our "weak spots."
Ever wonder how he knows where our "weak spots" are located? Would you like the answer to that question? It's really very simple - WE TELL HIM!
I thought about this editorial topic a while back as I was reading an article about World War 2 and some of the spying activities going on during that period. Let me relate one little part of that article to you and I think we'll be able to tie it in with the lesson today.
This scenario involves the efforts of the Germans to integrate spies into England for the purpose of finding out when and where the Allies were going to attack Europe. Of course this required the German spies to appear as Englishmen and to assimilate themselves into the normal, everyday business society of the country. In order for them to be indistinguishable from the English, the spies were sent through a spy school to learn how the English speak, act and generally operate.
Their instructor at the spy school was certainly qualified to teach them these things as he had been educated at Oxford, probably their most prestigious university. Plus, was well-versed in the English business culture. One of the things that he taught the student spies to do was, after arriving in England, to open an account with a large sum of money at a major bank. Then go to the police and report their bankbook as being lost. The reason for this was, that this would establish respectability within the business community.
All of the spies sent into England by the Germans followed the instructor's advice to the letter. There was only one problem for them. When they did as instructed, they immediately identified themselves to the English as German spies because the Oxford educated instructor was a British spy operating in the German spy school. England knew they were spies because THEY TOLD THEM WHO THEY WERE!
Satan knows our weak spots because we tell him what they are. We identify them to him. Once we let him lead us astray in some area his "memory bank" files it away and he knows what enticement will work on us. If you're familiar with computerese you'll recognize what I'm about to say. He puts a "cookie" on our hard drive and from then on knows where to come back to. That weak spot.
So, the best strategy against the devil is to not identify our weak spots. To not tell him where we are most vulnerable. How do we do that? By not letting him in the first time. By filling our minds with the "fruit of the Spirit," shown us in Gal. 5:22-23, as opposed to the "works of the flesh" as seen in Gal. 5:19-21.
It's like the lady of the house once said after a vacuum cleaner salesman came to her door. She let him in, but before she could convince him that she didn't want a new vacuum cleaner, he had sprinkled trash all over her living room floor. It took almost two hours before she could finally get him out of the house.
She realized that her first mistake was letting him in to begin with. Of letting him cross the threshold of her door. Once he was in, it was hard to get him out. It's the same with what we allow to come into our minds. The devil is just waiting to scatter his "trash" around in our minds. And once in, it's hard to get him back outside.
Someone once said "Every spiritual battle is won or lost at the threshold of the mind." Oh, we can be victorious over Satan, but the battle is a whole lot easier if we keep him outside the door of our mind. And the key to doing that is to recognize him and to know how he operates and reject him from the start. To not let him cross the threshold.
Maybe we can rewrite the script and, as "Geralds" and "Geraldines," say "The devil tried to get me to do it, but I didn't let him in." And always remember, he's a pretty good salesman, but we don't have to buy.
Ron Covey
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