Text- Ephesians 4:27 – “And do not give the devil a foothold”
It is no news that the devil is our adversary, and is daily working contrary to us; to our joy, success and progress; in fact, to anything good and godly in our lives. That being said, much care must be taken in dealing with such a dangerous adversary.
There is this popular saying that, “He who dines with the devil must have a long spoon”. That adage stems from the fact that people usually socialize or discuss business over dinner. So then, if a man were to do either of these two with the devil, he must have a long spoon, so that he can maintain enough distance.
The crux of that adage is that if you socialize with the devil, his foulness will contaminate you; and if you do business with him, he will betray you. So then, the wise thing, in my opinion, is not just to get a long spoon, but to stay away from him totally, and not give him any foothold with which he can mess us up.
There are generally seven (7) ways in which people give a foothold to the devil in their lives. I will be discussing these seven things over the next couple of days.
1. SIN Someone said, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay”. In other words, once you dabble into sin and give a foothold to the devil in your life through it, it becomes a nuisance even to you yourself.
I like how Matthew Henry says it, “Sin, if yielded unto, lets in the devil upon us”, In other words, sin opens the door to the devil, and invites him in.
Romans 5:17 says, “For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many…” Wherever you find sin, it’s a free playground for the devil; sin gives the devil a legal ground to accomplish his deeds; to kill, to steal and to destroy.
You know you have given the devil a foothold in your life through sin when these three things happen:
• Sinful thoughts are no longer grievous to your soul • When you yield to sinful thoughts • You repeat a sinful deed
Beloved, what is the condition of your heart; is your conscience still active and strong? Does your heart still kick against sinful thoughts? Do you entertain and in fact, act upon sinful thoughts? Do you keep going repeating a sinful deed, rather than repent from it? Have you given the devil a foothold in your life?
Let me conclude with these words of Apostle Paul, “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16)
PRAYER Father, I refuse to give the devil a foothold in my life. I choose to abstain from sin, and pursue after righteousness in Jesus Name.
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