WE ARE OBEDIENT TO THE GOD… OR THE DEVIL…
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” —Luke 4:5-7
You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. —Psalm 63:1
The Lord detests those whose hearts are perverse, but he delights in those whose ways are blameless. Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free. —Psalm 63:20-21
Satan is a liar and deceiver. He will use anything and anyone to encourage a person to worship him. This was his strategy from the beginning. Adam and Eve listened to his voice and obeyed him (Genesis 3:1-7). Jesus made it very clear about who we love when He said, “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them” (John 14:21).
“Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” —Romans 6:16-18
When the devil said to Jesus, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours,” He wanted Jesus to obey him, to worship him. To what or who we are obedient to is what we love. The devil’s ploy is to give people the pleasures of this world apart from God and in some way he receives perverse worship through this. Imagine, the devil wanted Jesus to be his servant. The devil wanted Jesus to worship him. How pathetic!
We must be aware that we do not offer the devil our worship in any way. No, instead, “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” He is the One we are to be obedient to and worship. May it be so! And we know that “The Lord detests those whose hearts are perverse, but he delights in those whose ways are blameless. Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free.” So let us seek to live for our Lord God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and the King of Glory! Let not “Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes” (II Corinthians 2:11). May we keep “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Yes, Dear Father, may this be so by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son Jesus. May this be so all for Your honor and glory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5kKQGbI0PU&list=RDZ5kKQGbI0PU&start_radio=1