Aug. 22 Devotion: Giving Satan an Advantage

Giving Satan an Advantage

2 Corinthians 2:11

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

I did a short devotion for our young people using this verse during the fun day we had for them. When you look at the context around this verse, we see Paul talking about forgiveness. We should be aware of how Satan will make his way into the church to try to cause division amongst us. It could be unforgiveness, envy, etc. Whatever it might be, we have to be aware of what Satan could be trying to do in order to tear the church or you individually apart.

I want to focus on us individually. The phrase “get an advantage” suggests Satan’s opportunistic nature, seeking to manipulate circumstances to sow discord, bitterness, or unforgiveness. That advantage Satan seeks can also cause us to backslide in our relationship with Christ. Paul then emphasizes that we are not unaware of Satan’s “devices”—his strategies or tactics. More often than not, we know exactly what it takes to get us away from our relationship with Christ. We know what might cause us to slack in our prayer time or study time. Yet, we often allow ourselves to walk right into those so-called traps. Think about it like this. If you know a recovering alcoholic who goes into a bar and gets drunk, what would your thoughts be? Why in the world would they go in there and tempt themselves to have a drink and end up in that situation again? Why then do we often know exactly what the devil will use to get us to walk opposite of what God wants for us, yet we will head in that wrong direction?

If our desire is to continue to get closer to God and walk closer to Him, we must be honest with ourselves and realize there are things we just can’t get close to. We must stay away from those things that we know might tempt us to backslide on God. We know what Satan will use, so don’t give him an advantage by dabbling in those things, even just a little.

God bless,

Bro. Josh Richardson