The Devil Made Me Do It

(Shrove Tuesday)

In I John 4:4, the text reads: “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

As Christians approach the season of Lent, there are so many times that they examine their failures and weaknesses and get discouraged because they have failed so often.

Flip Wilson on T.V. had a familiar phrase, “The devil made me do it!” We have all said that, or something similar to it, I suppose. We have felt that we were not in control, or that we were not ourselves…not at our best…and the power of evil zaps us between the eyes and we sin.

The 40 days of Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday, are like the period of testing that Jesus spent in the wilderness. He too, struggled for supremacy over evil, and he won!

Although we can never be sinless like Jesus, yet if he is in our hearts, then we have a power stronger within us, than all the combined forces of evil on the outside. For that we should rejoice!

SanDee Tillee is a poet who often puts her lyrics to country music. In her own life, she must have gone through experiences like that of the Prodigal Son. When she was baptized, she wrote these words:

“Lord, I’ve been in hell so long.

Thank you for helping me out.

You’ve given me a brand new song;

You mapped the whole road out.

Yes, I believe I’m on the right road.

But, I’ve still got the tracks on my arms

To remind me of that hellish load,

With the devil’s many charms.”

If you feel the need for power on the inside to work against the evil on the outside, then invite the Savior to walk the journey of Lent with you.