Stop Flirting With the Devil

 Stop Flirting with the Devil.

You know how it is when a new year begins and you start writing out all your new year resolutions with full vim. Although we both know it's probably the same thing you keep writing year after year but let's leave that for another day.

So this year, "with my full chest", I was writing out my new year resolutions  and I always start off with my spiritual growth. So I began by scheduling fasting days, increasing the number of hours for my quiet time etc and then I was like “oh I don't have enough time in a day”.

Then the Holy Spirit whispered "If you stopped flirting with the devil, you would have more than enough time". I was like "What? Flirting with the devil? How am I flirting with the devil?"

So I felt led to go check out my data usage for the apps on my phone and to say I was shocked is an understatement. Granted some of us could claim we spend most of the time listening to sermons, learning new skills etc. to justify our usage of some apps like YouTube and Facebook. And just know it's perfectly okay to have these apps to unwind after a long day. God knows the comedy skits on Facebook, the lit twitter wars and threads, the movies on Netflix, the vlogs on YouTube, tik-tok trends, style influencers on Instagram etc. are entertaining.

So me being me as usual, I tried justifying to God how adulting is hard and these apps are a means to de-stress and I needed to spend that much time on them to know what's trending and going on so I could be culturally relevant (blah blah trust me, I just went into my usual defensive mode). 

Then the Holy Spirit led me to a scripture in Ecclesiastes 3:10 NKJV which reads "I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied."

Then He said "The time spent away on other things is to distract you from knowing what is written." 

As believers, there is a God-given task we are to be occupied with. The essential commodity to fulfilling our God-given assignments is time and that is what the devil is stealing. But it's not about the time that is being stolen from us, but more importantly what we are being fed with when we spend time on other things which the devil has disguised as entertainment. 

A lot of us are walking with an identity crisis because we don't spend time in Scripture to know what God wants us to be occupied with. We don't spend time knowing what God has said about us to even know who we are, so the devil is telling us who we are and what we should be. He is craftily telling us how we should act and what to accept as the norm in a subtle manner. 

In the words of Pastor Mildred Okwonko, "The devil you're playing with is not playing with you oooo". The devil has been doing this for ages and he has an agenda so let us not be ignorant. Let me zone in on Netflix for example. The devil knows if he presents a skit as porn your guard will be high up and you won't watch so Netflix and chill it is. Intellectually stimulating and mind-blowing movies and series yet they have hard core nude sex-scenes that can make your guardian angels throw up. The gay/lesbian characters in these movies (now every movie has one) are always the cool dudes you can identify and sympathise with so you become more accepting and not see same sex relations as sin. 

Over time, after spending time on these “sources of relaxation and entertainment” we gradually become numb to sex scenes. Cussing becomes normal because we are used to hearing them in comedy skits and our children might even pick it up and start doing same. Moving in together before marriage becomes normal because of the tik-tok trends we see of these couples. Taking shots looks dope and cool because the alcohol is right there on every celebrity talk-show for a "Never have I ever" segment.

Everything is permissive but not all things are beneficial. Not to say we should not have these apps. The question is are we using them in moderation and is the time we are spending on this beneficial in the God-given tasks we are to be occupied with? If not then no, let's not indulge the devil. The devil is primarily a thief and what better way to do this than appear as an ally in a harmless and chill manner.‬

In Genesis 3, the devil did same to Eve by approaching her as a friend who had her best interest and wanted her to know all things and be like God. He planted a seed of doubt by asking "Did God Really Say" and lured her to look upon the fruit which suddenly looked so good to her and boom...mission accomplished. In Matthew 4, we see how the devil tempted Jesus by flirting. He started off with the same strategy" Did God say" when he asked Jesus to turn the stones to bread and jump off the cliff. The devil crowned it off by presenting the kingdoms of the world in an appealing manner to Jesus. The devil's strategy hasn't changed. He has just evolved with technology to keep up with the times. To make us question God's ways and then present what he offers us as better. We cannot be ignorant.

Jesus dealt with the devil by saying it is written. For everything presented to us, we must go back to Scripture like Jesus did. The Word of God must be our filter.  Question is "Do we even know what is written? I remember having my usual back and forth conversations with one of my friends and he said "as for you, everything you will go and pull a scripture as basis" and I responded “of course”. Mind you this was a normal conversation and I hadn't realised the pattern until he said it but in that moment I was reminded that you can only fight back with the sword of the spirit, the double-edged sword scripture which you know.

Some of us are stressed and finding comfort and solace in other things because we have abandoned what is needful and chasing after things the devil has presented to us as success from what we watch and hear. We are building our ideologies for life, vision for our marriages and families with the clickbaits of the devil. We are trying to thrive using human intellect and abandoning our advantage who is the Holy Spirit to give us godly wisdom and godly principles in God's word on how to solve issues. We spend all our time on social media instead of praying and seeking the will of God. After ten minutes of prayer we are sleepy, but a six-hour movie marathon and our eyes are wide awake. The devil is just wiring our appetites and desires for these instead of intimacy with Jesus. You begin to love what you spend time on.

One thing we keep forgetting as Christians is that in John 10:10, Jesus tells us that the devil is first of all a thief. Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” The devil’s mission statement is first to steal (your time, focus and attention), kill (your vision, your faith in God,  your trust in His will for you) and eventually destroy (ensuring you are not ready when the Bridegroom finally comes back). The devil is not your friend. He is an enemy. Treat him and all that he presents to you in the form of entertainment as such.

This year, if spiritual growth is one of your resolutions which I believe should be, don't flirt with the devil. Be deliberate and conscious about what you're spending your time on to feed your spirit and soul. The time spent away on other things is to distract you from knowing what is written in Scripture. Be occupied with your God-given task and knowing the will of God. When you spend time in His word and presence, your appetite and desires will change and conform to His. The devil is not your friend. Stop flirting back!

Don’t flirt back.

Your friends,

Becky and Sharon.