He Wants You!

No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

1 John 3:9-11

What if you found out that there was someone trying to get you?  What if that someone could be everywhere you were and could come in ways that you might not recognize?  How would you feel?  What would you do differently?  Would you be more aware of your surroundings?

There is someone that is trying to get you....and me.  This "person" is actively seeking ways to get you to do things, say things, and think things that are wrong....even evil.  This person is like God, in that he, too, can be everywhere, but this person, unlike God, is only interested in what is bad and evil.  He is not interested in what is good at all.  He only has power because God has given it to him.

Who is this mysterious person?  The devil - Satan!  He wants you on his side.  He doesn't want you to be one of God's children.  He believes that if he can just get you to his side on one little thing, that he can continue to turn you to his side - the side of darkness.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:8

How does it make you feel to realize that Satan wants you?  It makes me angry!  It also makes me even more aware of how I act, how I react, and how I think.  If Satan is capable of using others to get to me, then instead of getting aggravated at others when things go wrong, maybe I need to direct my anger towards Satan and sin, right?  I don't have to or need to get mad at others because Satan is the root of the problem - not the person he is using.  They may not even be aware they are being used.  And, if/when he uses me, I may not be aware that I am being used, either.

The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

1 John 3:8

Directing our emotions of pain, sorrow, and disappointment at Satan does two things:  1.  It directs our disgust towards the ultimate root of the problem and gets it away from another human being.  2.  It directs our attention and reliance more towards God - the only One who can really help us with any of our problems.  So, if we use the situation to make us more aware of the devil's schemes and more towards the direction of God, we are much, much better off, and growing as God's child in the process.  Resisting the devil will cause him to flee from us!  Instead of trying harder to get us, when we submit to God, the devil will go pick on someone else.  He gets discouraged by our submission to God!

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

Yes, he - the devil - does want you, and that is a true fact.  But, even truer, is the fact that God wants you even more!  Isn't that a wonderful feeling!  Where would you rather spend eternity?  With the devil or with God?  The decisions you make or don't make in this life will determine where you will spend eternity.  God won't make you follow him or serve him.  He will give you a choice.

So, get your armor on, brothers and sisters!  Let the war begin!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

Ephesians 6:10-12