1-2 God, come close. Come quickly! Open your ears—it’s my voice you’re hearing! Treat my prayer as sweet incense rising; my raised hands are my evening prayers. 3-7 Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips. Don’t let me so much as dream of evil or thoughtlessly fall into bad company. And these people who only do wrong—don’t let them lure me with their sweet talk! May the Just One set me straight, may the Kind One correct me, Don’t let sin anoint my head. I’m praying hard against their evil ways! Oh, let their leaders be pushed off a high rock cliff; make them face the music. Like a rock pulverized by a maul, let their bones be scattered at the gates of hell. 8-10 But God, dear Lord, I only have eyes for you. Since I’ve run for dear life to you, take good care of me. Protect me from their evil scheming, from all their demonic subterfuge. Let the wicked fall flat on their faces, while I walk off without a scratch. (Psalm 141, The Message)
Lie number one: “Evil is not real.” If we choose to follow this line of thinking then we must also conclude that good is not real – that we are all just random atoms that have randomly joined in such ways that all of creation has randomly become what it is. Without good or evil we must conclude that there is no morality – no moral absolutes such as, “Thou shall not commit murder.” If a person allows themselves this delusion, her or she has already given themselves over to our enemy for Satan need not bother to greatly with someone who denies the spiritual reality of creation. Lie number two: “Evil is ugly, disgusting and unappealing.” If evil was all of these things, very few would choose it of their own free will. The fact is that evil presents as very appealing and in most cases serves an immediate and satisfying purpose in our lives. It is like a drug from which we get a high; it is temporary, fleeting, and we must go back to the evil in order to get more “satisfaction.” I view evil as a lure and Satan as a VERY patient fisherman who will allow me to ingest the lure, grow used to the lure, become addicted to the lure – and then set the hook. Let me ask you what tempting lures are in front of you? Which lures are in your mouth right now? And which lures have been set – which only the power of Christ can break?
Lie number one: “Evil is not real.” If we choose to follow this line of thinking then we must also conclude that good is not real – that we are all just random atoms that have randomly joined in such ways that all of creation has randomly become what it is. Without good or evil we must conclude that there is no morality – no moral absolutes such as, “Thou shall not commit murder.” If a person allows themselves this delusion, her or she has already given themselves over to our enemy for Satan need not bother to greatly with someone who denies the spiritual reality of creation. Lie number two: “Evil is ugly, disgusting and unappealing.” If evil was all of these things, very few would choose it of their own free will. The fact is that evil presents as very appealing and in most cases serves an immediate and satisfying purpose in our lives. It is like a drug from which we get a high; it is temporary, fleeting, and we must go back to the evil in order to get more “satisfaction.” I view evil as a lure and Satan as a VERY patient fisherman who will allow me to ingest the lure, grow used to the lure, become addicted to the lure – and then set the hook. Let me ask you what tempting lures are in front of you? Which lures are in your mouth right now? And which lures have been set – which only the power of Christ can break?
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