DEVIL’S EFFECT ON CHRISTIANS

While on a trip to the zoo one day, a boy and his father saw a huge lion. The lion was prowling around his enclosure and letting out chilling roars. The boy became very frightened and screamed in terror, but his father remained calm and unafraid. Why? The boy was frightened because he saw only the lion, while the father was unafraid because he saw the cage enclosing the lion.

The Christian’s view of Satan should be like that of the father rather than that of the boy, for our fierce enemy is like a caged lion.339

In some ways the devil is like the villain in the old melodramas. Remember how the plot always develops? The heroine seems to be doomed, and the villain always appears to have the upper hand as he twirls his mustache and rubs his hands together. But at the critical moment the rescuing hero arrives and the plot line changes. The villain is beaten, his scheme fails, and he slinks off the stage muttering, “Curses! Foiled again!”

Of course that is exactly what happens to the devil when a Christian is willing to stand firm, fully outfitted in the armor God has provided (Eph. 6:10–17).340

An artist carved a woodcut titled “The Knight, the Devil, and Death.” The woodcut pictures a gallant knight riding his stallion down a path in the middle of the night. Alongside the path are many creatures and monsters that seem to want to devour the knight. But they can gain no advantage over him because his eyes are on his home; he cannot be bothered.

Likewise, as long as we keep our eyes on Christ, we will not be devoured by Satan, though he is eagerly awaiting a moment when he might distract us and cause us to sin.341