“Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;” (Heb. 11:25)
Satan has no desire or need to impose his will upon those who are of no real value to him, the poor and destitute, the cast away of society are in all regard cast off by him as valueless to his cause. The Pharisees had usefulness to him in the days our Lord walked amongst us, today it is those we have come to call “The Elites.”
Those who have been born-again are noticed by him, and if there is cause for him to believe they can in some form hinder his plans, he will stand before the Almighty and accuse them.
Those untold billions of the wicked are of no value to him, unless their desire is to profit greatly in this world, to live solely in an attempt to gain as much of those pleasures of not just a season of sin, but an entire lifetime of it.
“Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.” (Luke 8:12)
These are those that are profitable to his cause, and these days are no different than all the days that have come before, the goal is to be worshipped by mankind. Dagon, Molech, Ashtaroth, money, gold and silver, pride, lust and envy, these are the gods he uses to entice men away from life everlasting towards the temporary season of sin, and that season can last an entire lifetime for those he enables.
“Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” (2nd Thess. 2:4)
Our adversary is not overly concerned with those who have done all they have been commanded to do, and are therefore unprofitable, but he does notice those who pray without ceasing, who have hidden the Word of God in their heart and contemplate it at length and often, he notices those who adhere with their whole heart to Micah 6:8. “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
He notices those who do not just wait to serve, but those who diligently pray to be used by the Living God, and that for His glory only.
To do so is to walk willingly into enemy territory, prepared beforehand with much prayer and supplication, with studying intently the Word of God, the desire though is not to fight the enemy, it is to see the Most High glorified, to see His name exalted above the heavens.
Every tool at his disposal he will use against this man, every temptation, and if allowed, he will use pain and suffering, for this man, this man of God, called by God for His glory is his sworn enemy.
The season of those pleasures of sin my friends must be seen as a possibility for the entirety of our lives, until your final breath here.
“Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” (Psalm 121:4)
Every moment of every day there is an opportunity for us to wander off the path, to be enticed by something in this world, to become discouraged, even to doubt.
And we will.
“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” (Prov. 24:16)
Those who serve Satan and serve him well are rewarded well here, some know exactly what they are doing, others are deceived, the average unrepentant soul who simply live their lives, those in whom there is not fear of God before their eyes, yet who have no great all-consuming desire to gain the whole world are of little value to our adversary. Those who have been born-again, those have little desire to run the race but are instead content to simply do all they have been commanded to do are rarely noticed by him as well.
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)
Occasional seasons of sin cannot be escaped by us, but the length of that season should be diminished as we seek the face of the Almighty while we travel through this life.
