Beautiful Liar

Magicians fascinate me, not because I think they can really make people float on air or cause the Statue of Liberty to disappear with a wave of their hands, but because they convince me to suspend my reasonable mind for a few moments. With ‘hands that are faster than the eye,’ tactics designed to divert attention, wires, and boxes that have secret compartments; the modern magician makes us believe a lie, if only for a moment. We want to think, somehow, that they have defied the limits of time, space, and gravity! That’s entertainment.

The Devil is a magician, too, who draws the willing into a lie! While we like to think that evil’s approach will always be obvious, that alarm bells will sound in our mind when we wander into spiritually dangerous territory, that is simply not true. The devil is a beautiful liar. In the Genesis story, he approaches Eve urging her to disobedience in eating the forbidden fruit with a promise: “you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5, NIV) He did not tell her that she would also begin to die, that she would lose intimacy with her Creator, and that she would become subject to pain and suffering. Why, after all these millennia, are we not wise to his schemes?

He is still a beautiful liar. The Bible says that he "masquerades as an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14, NIV) He works to make selfishness appear sophisticated, to recast marital infidelity into a sweet affair, to make addiction to work into admirable diligence, to make truthfulness the characteristic of the naïve in a world. He even works his magic on sincere Christians, when allowed. He turns their desire for the Living God into a ugly parody of faith called religion, based not on life in the Spirit, but on rigid rules that attempt to control behavior by fear. Only after we have entered into his conspiracy and compromised ourselves does he drop the act and reveal his diabolical intent to destroy us.

Temptation to do evil is more easily defeated than we might think. Part of the lie is convincing us that we are powerless, that the attraction is irresistible, that the ‘devil made me do it!’ No, we choose to cooperate with the liar, to believe his whispered seductions that appeal to our base nature. If we live in Truth, if we are relentlessly authentic, temptation loses much of its luster. We see the sequins for what they are, the smoke and mirrors become obvious under the bright Light of the Gospel of Christ.

The human tragedy is summed up in these words: "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. …Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done." (Romans 1:25, 28, NIV) But, God did not abandon humanity in that hopeless condition! He intervened with the gift of His Son, showing us the Way back home, calling us to reject the beautiful liar.

Disciple, will you live in the Truth today?
Will you pray for a discerning heart and mind that God, the Holy Spirit, offers to you?
Will you love the light of Christ?

Here’s a word from the Word. Own it as you read it.
"The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see.
Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires." (Romans 13:12-15, NLT)

___________

Give me one pure and holy passion,
Give me one magnificent obsession.
Jesus give me one glorious ambition for my life.
To know and follow hard after You.
To know and follow hard after You,
To grow as Your disciple in the truth.
This world is empty, pale, and poor,
Compared to knowing You my Lord.
Lead me on and I will run after You.

One Pure And Holy Passion
Altrogge, Mark
Word Music Group, Inc.

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