Sometimes you hear Christians blame the Devil for all sorts of things. The Devil made me do this, the Devil made me do that. The Devil made me swear at my teacher. The Devil tempted me to get drunk. The Devil must be pretty busy, if he actually does all the things we suggest he does. Actually, a lot of what we blame the Devil for, is simply us stuffing up. Don’t misunderstand me, I certainly do believe the Devil exists and tempts people, after all the Bible says he does. But I am not entirely sure that he or his minions have enough free time to worry about me or you 24/7. We shouldn’t use that as an excuse to laugh and poke the Devil, because he is very real. But we also need to understand that the Devil has limited power and time. He isn’t everywhere like God is. He can’t create from nothing, like God can, and best of all, he has already lost. Jesus, in this passage, tells us that God can defend us from the Devil. But not only that, the Devil lost the battle, when Jesus died on the cross, for you and me. And his time is running out, because when Jesus returns, its goodnight midnight for the Devil.
