Text- Ephesians 4:27 – “And do not give the devil a foothold”
The Bible tells us in 1Peter 5:8 that the devil, who is our chief enemy, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. This suggests to us that the devil is a chronic opportunist.
The devil is always looking around for loopholes through which he can accomplish his evil deeds in the lives of men. Contrary to what many think, sin is not the only loophole that gives the devil an opportunity to ‘strike’.
Asides sin, another thing that may give the devil a foothold in the life of a person is:
1. FOLLY Bible says in Eccl 10:1, “As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.” In other words, a little folly is enough to mess up an entire life! That’s how dangerous folly is.
You may have made a hundred; a thousand; or even millions of wise choices and decisions in time past. Just one foolish decision is enough to undo them all and haunt you for the rest of your life! You know why? Folly creates a loophole for the devil.
Remember the parable Jesus told in Matthew 25:1-13 – The ten virgins:
“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish”. (Matthew 25:1-2)
The fact that they were called virgins means all the ten of them had the essential characteristics of holiness and purity. What messed five of them up was that they were foolish.
I tell people that after sin, the next thing that we must run away from is folly. Sadly, there are a handful of Christians who avoid sin and live a holy life, but have permitted folly in their hearts.
Beloved, if we, despite our holiness and purity, will not be messed up like the 5 foolish virgins, we must make sure not to embrace folly in our thoughts, words, choices, decisions, actions and reactions.
Things like poor time management, keeping bad company, refusing correction, rejecting counsel, accumulating debt, love of short cuts, laziness, lack of discipline, etc. are some tell-tale signs of folly. The devil can gain a foothold in your life through them.
The mortal danger of folly is one major theme in the book of proverbs. I usually would encourage people who seek to be wiser to meditate on one chapter of proverbs per day. There are 31 chapters in all, so you’ll read through the whole book in a month!
Proverbs 4:7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom”. James later on told us how to get this wisdom: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5)
PRAYER Father, I repent of folly today, and I ask you to give me wisdom in Jesus Name. Let me never lack consistent advice and instruction that will make me wise for the rest of my life.
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