The Encourager
“The Charms of the Devil by Mike Richardson”
When you make a serious study of the Bible you will find that the devil is one that does a great job at charming people to sin. That is, he uses things of this world to get us to take our minds off Christ and get us to do evil instead of good. The question may be asked, “Why does the devil hate us?” I believe part of the answer is he sees us trying to do right and worship God when he desires to be worshipped. If we worship something or someone in this world we are in one aspect worshiping the devil since he is the prince of this world (Eph.2:2) and the god of this age (2 Cor.4:4). The devil will do whatever he can to get you to sin, to charm you away from God. Let us observe several “Charms of the Devil,” or tools he uses to distract us away from God.
(i)The Charm of Sex (Judges 16:5) Sex is one of the devil’s strongest charms. God put in man and woman the desire to be intimate, but God reserved such for the marriage bed (Heb.13:4). The devil perverts sext to move us away from God. Lust instead of love leads one to act on this charm. However, consider how lust can cost one. It cost Samson his eyes, then his life. It cost David more than he could ever imagine. The devil does a masterful job at tempting people to use sex in a way God did not intend.
(ii)The Charm of Money (Josh.7) Achan saw something he wanted and, although he knew it was wrong, he took it. In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira lied about money they contributed. In Matt.19 the rich young ruler allowed money to motivate him more than his love for God. The devil seeks to distract us with shiny things of this world. If our mind is on treasures here, then we are not putting our treasures in heaven (Matt.6:19-21).
(iii)The Charm of Power (Matt.20:20-21) James and John’s mother sought for them a powerful position in Christ’s kingdom. She did not understand His kingdom was a spiritual one. There is something about power that can distract a person. We all want to feel important and feel like we have some power. This can lead one away from God and lead to arrogance. Absalom sought to kill his own father for the power of being king of Israel. One must be on guard against this charm of the devil.
(iv)The Charm of Escape Some seek to escape the troubles of life by getting drunk, high, or emotionally shut down in some way. Have we ever stopped to consider this charm and distraction of the evil one? Noah and Lot are two Bible examples of drunkenness that should show us that this charm can have dire consequences. I Pet.5:8 Peter warns us to be “sober.” Why? Lest the devil devour us when we are not on guard. When one’s mind is filled with intoxicants, one’s defenses are lowered, inhibitions are lowered and people do that which they never thought they would do.
(v)Let us be on Guard Against Such Charms! Don’t be distracted by the evil one! Let us be on guard against the wiles of the devil and not let him take advantage of us (2 Cor.2:11).
