Have you found yourself giving up? The mind, body, and soul weariness brought on through the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic have led many to simply surrender their will. No more struggling or fighting, just do whatever you need to get some relief.
Unfortunately, we found that instead of appeasing the beast, it just fueled his appetite.
This made me think of a quote by C.S. Lewis:
The final stage is come when Man by eugenics, by pre-natal conditioning, and by an education and propaganda based on a perfect applied psychology has obtained full control over himself. Human nature will be the last part of Nature to surrender to Man.
C.S. Lewis The Abolition of Man
We have a tendency to forget that in the beginning, God created man in his own image.
He is the one who
- Numbers our days. (Job 14:5; Psalm 39:4; 90:12)
- Knew us from our mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:1, 13)
- Sanctifies us by the truth, his Word is truth. (John 17:17)
- Tells us to test what we hear by his Word. (1 Thessalonians 5:20-22; 1 John 4:1)
Satan’s goal is to undermine the work of God and to deceive men and women into thinking they have no need for God. Eugenics, abortion, coercive education, and propaganda all undermine the value of mankind. And when a person’s value is debased, he gives up and allows others to guide him, speak for him, and rule over him.
There was a reason that Jesus said: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
I think it’s interesting that he said this when talking with religious leaders. They were behaving much like some in our world today—trying to lord over others and tell them what to do and say. That’s why they didn’t like it when Jesus told them the truth would set them free; they were blind in their enslavement. Listen to what they said:
“We are descendants of Abraham, and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you. I speak what I have seen in the presence of the Father; so then, you do what you have heard from your father.”
“Our father is Abraham,” they replied.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did. But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You’re doing what your father does.
You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.”
John 8:33-41, 44 CSB
Nothing has changed in over two thousand years. Satan is still the father of lies and a murderer, and he continues to wage war on the nature of man.
Our job is to recognize the work of the evil one in our world today and speak out against it. Stand up against it. Speak the truth, and yet,
Have mercy on those who waver; save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on others but with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
Jude 22, 23
Grace and Peace