“But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent” (NLT) 2 Corinthians 11:3

The devil is a liar! Nothing more, nothing less. He is a master schemer and very shrewd. Lies are his stock-in trade (John 8:44) and his mission is plain and simple: steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10a).

Have you ever wondered why you seem to have good intentions to live righteously and be committed to the ways of the Lord but you end up doing the opposite? (Read Romans 7:15). Have you ever bemoaned the fact that you start off in the spirit but you end up fulfilling the desires of the flesh? (Read Galatians 3:3). What happened to your first love for Christ? Why has it waxed cold? (Read Revelations 2:4). The one who is behind it all is the devil. Through his craftiness and machinations, he restlessly creates the system by which you will be entangled in worldliness and fleshy pursuits (Revelation 12:12). He diverts your attention from the spiritual pursuits and corrupts your pure devotion to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).

All these sound as if there is no hope for man. They sound as if we are forever entangled in the subjugation of the evil one. If that is so then the death of Christ would have been in vain. Christ came to redeem us from this bondage to sin and gave us abundant life (John 10:10b). In subsequent devotionals, we will delve deeper into the machinations of the devil so that you understand why you struggle with your commitment to Christ and we will prescribe spiritual antidotes to this seemingly wretched state we all find ourselves in (Romans 7:24).

God, help us number our days || More