My Message to You About the Greatest Deception in America

This is why I’m on DEFCON 1.

Louisiana may not be for you. In fact, if an article published on NOLA.com in March 2022 is correct, people are moving out of the Pelican State at a pretty good clip. The pandemic and hurricanes have expedited the exodus, but the shrinking of our state’s population is a trend that has been going on for a while.

Like I said, Louisiana isn’t for everyone, what with withering heat, floods, alligators, and billions of slithering reptiles like the dreaded cottonmouth moccasin. Personally, I’m not bothered by any of that at all. I possess a skillful eagle eye that can spot danger long before I’m ever threatened. So far, so good.

In my estimation, however, there are far greater dangers to human flesh than snakes and gators. Just this week, the news channels were covering a story that occurred in Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming where a grizzly bear attacked two college wrestlers and ripped them up pretty good.

From what I hear, that’s the problem with grizzlies: They’re way better at prowling around looking for prey than you are at avoiding them. So, I’ll make a mental note to myself. Not that I will ever go hiking in bear-infested forests, but if I do? Well, all I can tell you is that I’ll be more dangerous than two or three grizzlies. Of course, I’m usually more dangerous than people know, if you get my drift.

As dangerous as cottonmouth snakes, alligators, and grizzlies are, there’s one threat that’s more perilous than all the rest of them combined. Just in case you don’t know where I’m going, let me share this little piece of biblical wisdom with you:

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

—1 Peter 5:8

A person could ignore him or deny the reality of the evil one if he chooses, but if Peter is right about his purpose, it would be a very foolish move to make. I could choose, if I so desired, to deny the existence of the poisonous snakes that nestle camouflaged and unnoticed in the brush covering my duck blind, but it wouldn’t be a smart move. It only takes one lazy moment to become the victim of his deadly venom.

I’m not afraid, but I am careful. Very careful!

As alert as I am for snakes and such, I’m on DEFCON 1 when it comes to the devil. That means that I’m on high alert with my weapon loaded and cocked and my finger on the trigger. To anyone wondering why I’m so obsessed with what he’s up to: It’s because I’ve seen his dirty work. Not only in my life, but in the lives of thousands upon thousands of his victims that I’ve encountered along the way.

The evil one is much more than a prankster. He seeks more than to make your life uncomfortable. Way more than that! He seeks to devour you! To destroy you! To lead you as far away from the love of Christ as he can convince you to go. He wants to destroy your marriage, persuade your daughter to sleep with as many men as she can, and confuse your sons about their gender. He is the author of confusion and chaos. He loves fentanyl and meth addiction. He covets greed, gossip, slander, and envy. He loathes every single fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control, and gentleness. When you see the fruits eroding, he’s behind it all. He’s not only coming for you and all you love, but he’s already on the job. Been working on you for years.

This is why I am on high alert for any indication that he’s hiding in the bushes of my life. I know he’s there, and I know what he wants. He would love to devour me, to entangle me in one of his sinister webs.

All I need to know about him is that he is my enemy, and he wants to kill me.

In my opinion, America would be better off if we accepted the reality of Satan. Think of the chaos that would be eliminated if we could just stop wandering around wringing our hands and wondering what’s wrong with us. We would know what’s behind all of this junk. We would know that he deceived us into thinking we can find the good life outside of God.

Be alert, readers! It’s a dangerous world out there.

Image adapted from photo by Carbon Arc on Flickr | CC BY-NC-SA 2.0