Doubting the Devil

Has it ever struck you as odd that Christians often speak about doubting God and his word, but very rarely think about doubting the Devil?

I think this is even more evidence of the deception that the Devil seeks to lead us in, especially when we’re feeling weak.

After all, there has never, ever been a time when our Lord God has failed to deliver on a promise.

Yet the Devil has a proven track record of lying, deceiving, and generally leading God’s people away.

I noticed this again recently when I read the third chapter of the Bible, in Genesis 3.

The Lord God has given his people a glorious place to live, and they have experienced the blessings of living an obedient life under God’s rule.

As a sign of their acceptance of his loving rule, they were told not to eat the fruit of just one tree in the entire Garden of Eden.

Yet, Satan deceived the woman, asking her “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1).

Even with this first deception, Eve had to correct the error of the serpent, telling him that it was only one, special tree that they were to avoid.

Satan was already proven to be wrong, and yet he bowled another delivery to the woman, telling her that if they eat from that tree then they would not die.

We then read in verse six that the woman was convinced by the devil, so she ate some fruit and shared it with her husband, who went along with her sin.

The tragic results of that sin proved the utter evil and lies of the devil… and yet we are still tempted day after day to reject God’s good rule.

It should seem obvious, but remember that the devil can never be trusted.

We should faithfully doubt the devil… and faithfully obey the good and gracious word of our Lord.

JODIE McNEILL

(Credit: Aphrodite via Flickr)