Don’t Underestimate the Enemy

A story is told of a boxer who was being badly beaten in a match. He leaned over to his trainer and yelled, “Throw in the towel! This guy is killing me!”

His trainer yelled back, “He is not! He’s not even hitting you! He hasn’t even laid a glove on you!”

The dazed boxer said, “Then I wish you would watch that referee, because someone sure is hitting me!”

In the same way, our culture is getting hit. Our kids are being hit. And they don’t even know who is hitting them.

One of the most brilliant strategies Satan has managed to pull off is convincing people he doesn’t exist while he manipulates their lives. He is active. And really, this is the only plausible explanation for the horrible, depraved wickedness that mankind is capable of.

If you believe the premise that people are basically good, then you have more faith than I do—or maybe you’re a bigger fool. People are basically bad. And the devil works through the fallen nature of people, getting them to do evil.

God gives everyone a choice in life called free will, the ability to say yes or no. Romans 6:16 says, “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”

Jesus summed it up succinctly when He said, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10). There is your choice in life: God or the devil.

Don’t underestimate the devil. He’s a sly and skillful foe. And he has had many years of experience in honing his craft.