“The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
Jesus came that we should have life and have it abundantly, and life is to know the one true God and the one He sent, Jesus Christ (John 17:3). Conversely, Satan comes to kill and destroy; to take the life that Jesus gave us away from us. How does he do this?; he does it by deception; he doesn’t have to use persecution because deception works. Persecution is only necessary where deception fails; if deception doesn’t work we can expect persecution, but deception generally manages to rob the people of God of the life that He gave them. And the way he does that is to turn God’s people away from Christ and into religion; from the way of life to the way of death; and all of this happens without those to whom it is happening knowing it.
The gods of this world today are wealth, youth and status and they are worshipped by most of those of the world and, sadly, by many of those who are called of Christ. The most honoured in our community are wealthy, young celebrities, however they might have acquired their wealth or gained their celebrity; their beings and doings and sayings are the stuff of popular culture. Christians should beware of joining in the adulation of the world towards such as these, much less covet it for themselves or their children. It plainly leads to nowhere.
The biblical type of these false gods is revealed in the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19, Mark 10 and Luke 18. The hollowness and emptiness of a life given over to the pursuit of youth, wealth and position was sounded in the very first question he asked of Jesus; “Good Teacher, what good things should I do in order that I may have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16). This young man had wealth, youth, position and he also had morality but his question reveals how truly unsatisfying and unfulfilling these things are. There was something vital missing in his life and he knew it; but he was unable to pay the price required to gain eternal life, which was, and is, to follow the example of Christ Jesus and give up all of self to the will of the Father and to do only the things that are pleasing to Him.
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