Beware of Satan's Nose and Foot

At the beginning of each year, I think nearly every mature adult wrestles with an uneasy spirit while examining their lifestyle, which could use some sort of improvement. There is always an area of life we are not happy with, normally, a habit we need to break or a habit we need to get started. Most habits build slowly, but we tend to want to end or start one abruptly, so we procrastinate on even getting started. Whether getting a bad habit out of, or a good habit into ones lifestyle, the battle between heart and mind – soul and body - is a lifelong war filled with many battles. Your strategy to overcome self must include a strong faith in your Creator’s love for you and know your enemy very well.

The worst enemy of man is Satan. His goals are wicked; his ways evil. In the Bible the devil is called “a roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8), and “that ancient serpent” (Revelation 20:2). Do we know how he works? The Bible says he works by * Telling lies (John 8:44). Satan told Adam and Eve, regarding the forbidden fruit, “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). An example of Satan’s lies today is, “Whoever believes will be saved.” The Lord said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:15, 16) * Perverting the scriptures. In Matthew 4:5-7, Satan took a passage out of context, thus twisting its meaning. * Organizing his churches. Not all religious groups are approved of God. Revelation 3:9 speaks condemningly of “the synagogue of Satan.” * Thwarting God’s purposes (1 Thessalonians 2:18). * Masquerading as “an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). Good appearances can be deceiving. Religious cranks, denominationalists, cults and charlatans fool many with their errors. The ancient Arabs had a saying: “Beware the camel’s nose” which means that if we let one small undesirable situation occur, then there would soon be a worsening to a disastrous predicament. The context is that if you let a camel get his nose into the tent, the whole body would soon follow. In America, we have a similar saying in that we let someone get “a foot in the door.” In addition to many applications, these proverbs can well warn us of the danger of letting Satan into our lives. Like the bulky, smelly camel or the persistent, annoying salesman, Satan can work himself into our lives, and if we give him the opportunity, he will lead us down a slippery slope. Consider these examples from Scripture. • Eve (Genesis 3:1-6) allowed herself to doubt the word of God. From there the downhill slide was very rapid. For then she looked at the forbidden fruit, took it, ate it, and finally gave it to her husband. She allowed just the tip of the nose of doubt into her mind, and before she knew it, Satan had ruined her whole life. • The people of Israel were forbidden to take any spoils of war. But Achan (Joshua 7:1-26) was tempted. In his confession he states that he saw, coveted, took, and finally hid the treasures. Notice how Satan got his foot in the door and kept forcing his way deeper and deeper into Achan’s greedy nature. • King David (2 Sam. 11:1-27) looked at a woman bathing, lusted after her, had an affair with her, tried to hide the sin, then conspired to murder her husband. Note the slippery slope of sin and disaster that David fell into after taking a few seemingly small steps of following Satan’s temptation. Let us always be wary of Satan’s temptations and realize that we can quickly be lead astray if we give him the opportunity. Satan is a greedy creature; if we give him an inch, he will take a mile. “…do not give the devil a foothold; in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.” (Ephesians 4:27; 2 Corinthians 2:11).