Resist the devil
Thought for the week by James Henderson
Hello.
You need only to glance at the news to know that evil exists. What, if anything, should we do about it?
In Mecca this week we’ve seen one response to it. Muslim pilgrims picked up pebbles and threw them at wide pillars as they entered the city. It’s meant to mirror a non-biblical tradition in which Abraham is said to have thrown stones at the devil.
It may sound weird or old-fashioned to mention the devil, but Christians should resist Satan. We all get tempted to indulge in evil and to sin. Let’s remember that Jesus, our sinless Saviour and God incarnate, took on our humanity and resisted Satan for us. We identify with him and in faith participate in his resistance to the devil’s temptations. In the Lord’s Prayer we ask to be delivered from the evil one, and Jesus does exactly that for us.
Rituals, which might sound intriguing to us, do not protect us from Satan. It is Jesus who protects us.
Turn to Jesus, and through him resist the devil.
Best regards
James
About the Writer:
James Henderson is a Minister in Grace Communion International