The Devil’s Evil Schemes
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles (evil schemes) of the devil. – Ephesians 6:10-11.
Thailand has under consideration the manufacturing methamphetamine pills that look like the real thing but actually are fake and will cause headaches and vomiting. The hope is that it will stop the abuse of drugs. Sitha Thiwaree, a member of parliament and a former fighter pilot said, “If drug addicts take these fake pills and vomit, they may later feel scared and not want to touch them again.” Methamphetamine abuse is considered one of the primary social problems in Thailand. In the USA methamphetamine abuse is rampant and even in the rural area in which I live it is a problem.
Wouldn’t it be nice if everything that is harmful to us looked and acted its part? So many times, people begin the use of addictive substances and at first it may very well give them some relief from reality. But over a period of time, they will discover that those substances will result in problems far worse than whatever reality they may have been escaping from.
A few weeks ago, I had to take my Dad on a short trip to another town to straighten out a situation regarding my mother’s hospice care. He insisted that we take his car, and everything seemed fine at first. It was very hot outside and I turned on the air conditioner, but it was several miles later when I realized the air conditioner was not helping. In fact, by the time we arrived at our destination we were more than hot. After our meeting and on our way home I finally found that part of the problem was that not only did the air conditioner not cool it was blowing out hot air! Because the air had heated up gradually on the way we had grown accustomed to it and had no idea that the air conditioner was blowing out hot air.
In much the same way as we had grown accustomed to the hot air many grow accustomed to addictions and other habits, which are harmful. At first there seems to be little danger but then we realize we have become the prisoner of our habits and addictions. Before you use that drug, or drink that drink, or look at that porn, or have sex outside of marriage take a moment to think about the long-term consequences. It may just be that it’s not worth it. It may very well be that those things will result in your own personal degeneration and very possibly your ultimate physical destruction.
You don’t have to wait until someone develops a new fake drug that causes you to vomit before you stop using. You don’t have to wait for that sexually transmitted disease to invade your body and cause you misery for life at best and death at worst. No, through the power of God you can say no to all of the devil’s evil schemes and say yes to life.
Put on the full armor of God, be strong in the power of the Lord and make your stand against the devil.
(Wouldn’t it be nice if everything that is harmful to us looked and acted its part?)