Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Ephesians 6:11
The devil made me do it. Flip Wilson used that as the punch line for his Geraldine character. I know I would laugh but really did not give much thought to the devil’s power over me. The Devil gets a lot of blame when things go wrong. Yet the simple fact is the Devil cannot make us do anything. Tempt, yes, make no.
Make no mistake, the Devil is extremely powerful. He was one of God’s angels. He was most likely the most powerful angel. Unfortunately he was not satisfied with his station and decided to rebel against God. In the matter of rebellion we have a lot in common. But for all his power the Devil still cannot force us to do anything. We may blame him but the choices are ours.
Why are we without excuse, because God gives us the power to stand against the schemes of the Devil? We need only to call on the Lord for the strength to avoid the temptation before us. I know it is difficult. Even Paul struggled to do what was right and refrain from doing what was wrong. However, just because the struggle is difficult is no reason to give in. When we fall we need to pick ourselves up, turn to the Lord and try again. On this side of heaven we will most likely never overcome all our temptations, but we should never give up trying. God does not give up on us, let’s not give up on Him.
Have a blessed day,
David
