Friday, April 15, 2011

Don't Open That Door!


(Originally posted September 28, 2010)

I feel a cheesy illustration coming on, so I'm just gonna go with it and see if it ends up making sense:

The devil is like a door-to-door salesman.

He rings the doorbell at dinnertime.  At first, you pretend to not be home -- surely he'll go away.  Then curiosity gets the best of you, and you carefully, slyly peer through the blinds just to see what he's selling.  And, of course, he sees you sneaking a peek and quickly begins the sales pitch:  "It will only take a moment to show you this product that will make your life soooo much better!"

So you crack the door to politely tell him that you're not interested, that he should move on to someone else.  In a heartbeat, your eyes are fixated on the product and he slides his foot in the door.  Ugh!  He's on YOUR turf now, and the pitch becomes feverish as he dazzles you with promises of revolutionizing your life.  "May I come in and show you our catalog?  It will only take a moment of your time."

It seems like a quick downhill slide from there.  Soon your kitchen table is swallowed up in pictures of "new possibilities, the easy life, getting what you DESERVE!" if only you will buy in.  Your heart is racing and head spinning from all the statistics and discounts and market studies on how you NEED this product.  Before you know what has happened, you're signing up for something you never wanted that will end up costing you much more than you can afford -- if not, everything.

And then he's back out the door and on to the next house.

But, if you have company at your house -- I mean really IMPORTANT company -- you would have no problem sending the salesman away, however firm you might have to be.  "Sir, I'm just not interested in what you're selling.  I'm not even interested in hearing about what you're selling.  The one I have here with me now is far more valuable than your 'possibilities' could ever be.   I want to be with HIM.  I simply don't have time for you."  (door slam)

And the moral of the story?   I'm just thinking that if we, as image-bearers for God and temples for His Spirit, remember the precious company that dwells within us at all times, maybe we wouldn't be so likely to open the door and let satan get his foot in.  Because, just like with the salesman, once the door is cracked, once our appetite is whetted, the sale is pretty much in the bag.

There is nothing greater, nothing better than what we already possess.  We have all we need.  And turning our backs, even for a moment on this precious guest, to check out the shifty possibilities outside our door, would be beyond a tragedy.   It wouldn't even make sense!

As believers, we are God's "territory" and the adversary can have no foothold here. 

"Jesus replied, 'If anyone loves Me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'"  John 14:23

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