voice of the devil

Friday September 5^th, Matthew 16:  23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."   This is not the last temptation of Christ; that is yet to come.  Jesus puts it into perspective with the call to get behind me Satan.  How often do we tell Satan to get behind us?  How often do we let Satan take the lead and tell us that being a Christian is OK, but there is no need to get all that excited about it?  In C.S.Lewis’ Screwtape letters, C.S.Lewis as the voice of the devil does a great job of letting his minions know that you cannot actively tear one away from following Christ, all you will get is resistance.  The way you tear them away from following is to set the thought in their minds that religion is not something to get all that wired about.  To let them know that it is OK make time for Jesus when you have the extra time and money, to convince them that occasional attendance at worship is OK.  In time, it all seems less important and Satan is no longer behind, but in the lead.