We seldom talk about the devil. Many people are afraid of the devil. Many are so afraid that they don’t even want to talk about him. If someone mentions him, they quickly take their stuff and go somewhere else. Others say you shouldn’t mention the devil at all, because that gives him unnecessary honour. But I do think it’s important that we know who the enemy is and what his agenda is so that we can know when and where he will try and invade our living space. Then we’ll know where to prevent him from coming in and where we have to post guards.

Worst of all is that the devil often tries to come in where we least expect it. Take the congregation of Corinth. They are quietly working on establishing their church. Their pastor is far away and they only hear from him now and then via a letter or two. Suddenly some other guys appear who say they are apostles too – men of God. How lucky can you be, the people of Corinth thought.

These guys preached spat as if it was going out of fashion and everybody were happy. But the shocking thing was that these so-called men of God were a sham. Can you believe it? Can you believe the deviousness of the devil! He came to these people who were still like babies in faith and tried to sow chaos.

Fortunately, Paul’s spiritual eyes quickly saw the so-called prophets’ real motives and he acted immediately: 12… I’m giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing “preachers,” vaunting themselves as something special. 13They’re a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ’s agents but sham to the core. 14And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. 15So it shouldn’t surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God.

It is really shocking to see what the devil tried to do. His tactics are evil and he does not hesitate to attack at any time, in any place. Yes, it is an attack and therefore it is important that we prepare ourselves for the attacks that will still come. Worst of all is that these attacks will come in places that do not look like battle fields. Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing he will try to attack the soft places. He will try to catch us when we sleep and before we know it we are slowly, but surely drawn into his world.

Paul warns us to be ready. We must know that there is an enemy. We must acknowledge it. We must know that he will try everything to gain ground. We must be sensitive. We must keep our ears to the ground and equip ourselves to sniff him out and to be prepared when he attacks.

Know that the devil will try his utmost to trip up the children of God. Know that sometimes we must expect to find him among the sheep. Also know that Jesus has given him more than a bloody nose and defeated him totally on the cross. You must take care that you are ready and equipped to sniff him out and chase him from your life.

2 Corinthians 11:7-15

Reflection

Do you believe that the devil still tries to chase us around?

Are you ready for the attack?

Are you equipped and equal to the task to overcome him in the Name of the Father?

Prayer

Father, sometimes I want to turn away when people talk about the devil. But thanks to You I can believe with everything in me that he has already been conquered already. Thank you that I don’t have to be afraid. Please help me to be sensitive and to recognise when he tries to come closer in sheep’s clothing. Amen