The Work of the Evil One

In my sermon on Sunday, I mentioned a verse from 2 Corinthians chapter 4, where Paul says that “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” (4:4) Hearing Paul talk about a lowercase ‘g’ “god of this world” probably sounds a little odd, but I bet you can guess whom he’s referring to: Satan is the so-called “god of this world” who’s trying to blind people to the gospel. That reminds me of what Jesus says in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:

A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up… When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this what was sown on the path. (13:3-4, 19)

Again, the evil one—Satan—is at work to keep people from receiving the gospel message. Apparently, that’s one of the goals of the evil spiritual forces in the world: to keep the good news from taking root in people’s hearts.

What I’m left wondering is, What does that look like? How, exactly, do these spiritual powers blind us and snatch away from us the words God’s Spirit whispers to our hearts?

I’m tempted (very tempted) to talk about cellphones right here. They have this uncanny ability to somehow tune out everything going on outside your head (like the other people trying to talk to you) and everything going on inside your head, too (like God’s “still small voice”). I think that kind of distraction is absolutely a powerful tool for Satan and very useful for snatching up gospel seeds in our hearts. Some of us need to take that more seriously.

But maybe it would be more useful if each of us investigated our own lives to uncover the methods Satan uses on me.

When I read something in scripture or a devotional that challenges me or inspires me, what snatches that away? When I feel God speak through a song, a sermon, or a conversation, what can eventually blind me to the message I'd heard?

Is it my phone?

Or is it my temper?

Maybe it’s my preoccupation with the news, or my anxiety about the future.

It could be that really good looking someone who just walked through the door, or the person who gets under my skin who walked in after them.

The busyness at work, the craziness at home, my favorite menu item at the restaurant I’m driving to, or the driver behind me who ought to have his license revoked—whatever it is, whether it’s a steady habit, a regular temptation, or a flash of disruption, it erases everything else that was written on my heart a moment ago. It snatches. It blinds.

You can find Satan in gut-wrenching atrocities and manipulative lies, but you don’t have to look anywhere so shocking. You’ll see Satan wherever the hope of forgiveness and promise of new life we have in Jesus is uprooted or obscured. If you investigate, I imagine you’ll find your heart and mind are smudged with diabolical fingerprints. Because evil does not want you to hear, doesn’t want you to know, doesn’t want you to find the life that you were created for.

Maybe we need to start investigating our lives, uncovering Satan’s methods, and rooting them out.

Listen to this week's devotional here: