The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is the fictional account of an older devil giving his advice to his nephew Wormwood, who is not yet worldly wise enough to secure the damnation of an ordinary young man named "the patient". Wormwood needs his devilish methods and tactics polished up if he is to useful in Satan's kingdom, because he is not skilled enough about the nature of temptation and how to take humans away from God. The Screwtape Letters is a classic on the subtle strategy of spiritual deception and warfare. One of the things that I read recently which caught my attention is Screwtape saying, "It is funny how mortals always picture us (devils) as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out." Life can easily make you busier and busier, and push the Word of God, fellowship with other believers, prayer, and other godly influences far from you. You become a very shallow Christian and the winds of the time cause you to drift away from the things that matter most in your spiritual life. Maybe it has already happened, or is happening to you now. The tragedy is that you may not even notice that it is occurring. Slow drifts tend to work that way.
It
is time to put on the full armor of God as described in Ephesians 6. Don’t be
ignorant of Satan’s devices to neutralize your service to God, and keep you down
in the spiritual ditch called "lukewarmness" (Revelation 3:15,16). Rise up, repent, and follow Jesus
with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength (Matthew 22:37).
May God give us all the strength, wisdom, and courage we need to keep pressing on in our spiritual life to His glory.
Pastor Tom
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