Ephesians 2:1,2
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.”
This is a sobering, scary verse. Not so much that we walked according to the course of this world, but that we walked according to the prince of the power of the air. That would be the devil and his demons. I had no idea that I had any dealings with him. I was doing what I wanted to do. I went to the church I grew up in. However, I hadn’t submitted or received the forgiveness of Christ. That wasn’t the churches fault, but mine. I didn’t know what that meant. I was following the cultural path of young men, doing what I wanted and having fun. However, I was miserable. I suppose that is the first attitude of the devil, “you will have fun, if you do what you want” (morally speaking). He did what he wanted and his way damned him. He promises satisfaction by his marketing agency, the world. The true result is emptiness. He promised good stuff to Eve, you will be made wise. However, great grief awaited our first parents. At a bible study yesterday, the topic was temptation. We are told to avoid sin. It wrecks lives, ruins marriages, causes addictions, creates anxiety and depressions, etc. We were talking about how to avoid it when one of the participants made an interesting comment. He mentioned that before he was a christian, he saw temptations as opportunities. He saw nothing wrong with his actions. They were exciting times that he looked forward to. How interesting that he now sees those things as harmful. This is part of the devil’s deception. He wants to keep the concepts of right and wrong (the bible and it’s standards) away from anyone’s notice. Our culture has bought his response, “don’t judge me.” Like the Pied Piper had those that were in tune with his hypnotizing music, so the devil attempts to lure us away with his themes. The world and some of our culture peddles that message. The sexual revolution, humanism (life without God), the “do what you want” attitude, and so on. All of these sound appealing, but they are contrary to our design. He knows us perfectly and how we’ll best function. We actually need restrictions. There is plenty out there that is bad for us. But those are notes of the devil that strike a chord within us. He gets many followers with those themes. The scary part about this is that we aren’t aware that it’s the devil’s ways we follow. Thus we are indirectly following him. He is called the prince of the power of the air. He’s a prince, a ruler. He has followers. Where is he leading? Misery and a life without God. We all have some bad attitudes in us that are devilish. It doesn’t mean we are going to hell (it may). Matt 16:16-23 Peter says something profound that Jesus compliments him for. Peter’s next comment is criticized by Jesus by saying to him, “get behind me Satan.” So, God’s people are influenced by the devil, also. Lord, help us to see the things within us that are the ways, habits and desires of the evil one. Help us to root those out.