Who likes the idea of being purged? Anyone wake up today hoping to find themselves wandering in a wilderness or desert, anxiously awaiting a chance to be pruned and refined in fire? One way or another, it is a necessary step along the path to holiness. You see, God doesnât just desire our salvation, but he desires our sanctification as well.
St. John tells us that the evil one â...comes only to steal and kill and destroyâ (John 10:10). When we are not united in communion with God, the holy desires that God places in our hearts are entirely taken. The devil plots to steal our desires and send us counterfeits in their place. Itâs God himself who both gives us our holy desires and nourishes them, so when our divine union dissipates, the holy desires quickly fade. This referred to the seed that fell upon the footpath, âand the birds came and devoured themâ (Matthew 13:4).
At the very core of Satanâs fall was pride. Let us take a moment to consider his infamous descent from grace. God created angels utterly beautiful. They exist as servants and messengers with a superior intellect compared to that of a mere human. The name Lucifer itself means light-bearer. Nevertheless, God granted the angels the same incredible gift that he granted us: freedom. Just like us they are free to choose, but due to their superior intellects the choices they make are final. Satan was created in freedom and for freedom, yet this is precisely the gift he is perpetually trying to steal from us now. He seeks to steal our freedom, steal what is deepest in our hearts and bind us in the chains of slavery. These are the chains of his own self-inflicted misery.
It has been said that hell wasnât created to punish us, but that it exists simply as a radical expression of the gift of freedom that God has bestowed upon us. God means it when he definitively declares those first three words to humanity, âYou are freeâŚâ, allowing mankind to choose even so much as eternal separation from himself. As weâve seen, he relentlessly works to win us back through sacrificial love, but ultimately the choice is ours.
âThere are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done" (C.S. Lewis). What a powerful force of freedom we have been given!
Scripture scholars have attributed the following statements in the Bible to the fall of Lucifer:
Consider these the âI willâ statements of the devil. Pride runs deep in the heart of the evil one and notice the exactness in the way in which he tempted humanity from the beginning, âBut the serpent said to the woman, âYou will not die...when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evilâ (Genesis 3:4-5).
Adam and Eve found themselves conversing with the subtle serpent rather than enjoying their divine union with the Lord and one another. That was their first mistake. Conversing with a fallen angel with a superior intellect, without talking with God; well, he will trick you every single time.
To withstand the temptations of the devil, we must recommit to uniting ourselves to God more fully through prayer. A choice not to pray is a critically clear sign of pride illuminating a belief that we can live life on our own without the need for God. If we fail to cultivate a daily prayer life, âThyâ will inevitably starts becoming âMyâ will.
Am I actively working to make progress against âthe devilâ?
Simply stated, we conquer the devil through prayer. Look below at âOur Pathway through the Wildernessâ. Although pride was covered last, we have been strategically including prayer in each of the other six areas. This was intentional because an element of pride involves itself in every area of sin.
⢠Recommit to the prayers we have begun above because pride abides at the root of every sin.