When Jesus went to the cross, he won the war for us. He defeated death, Hell, and the grave, and he gave us victory in his name. Jesus says in John 16:33b "Take heart! I have overcome the world." This is great news, and it is worthy of celebration. However, I feel like sometimes things like this give people a false idea about Christianity. When you get saved, things will not suddenly become easy for you. In fact, sometimes they get harder because now you have to say no to something called temptation. Jesus tells us we're going to have troubles. John 15:18-20 says, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to this world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: A servant is not greater than its master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." You have been chosen out of the world. This is why you can't blend in.
Satan is constantly prowling around trying to delay, distract, and destroy your destiny that God has planned for you. He has always tried to do this, even with Jesus. When Jesus was on the earth, Satan tried to tempt him the same way he does us. Jesus, of course, did not fall for it. Every time Satan came at Jesus with a temptation, Jesus combatted it with scripture. This is what we should be training ourselves to do as well. The word is sharper than a double edged sword, and you are at war with Satan and sin every day. Don't go into your battle not knowing how to swing your weapon! Study his word and learn to use the power within it.
Tonight as I read the passage about Jesus being tempted, I noticed something I hadn't before. The very last verse in that section (Luke 4:13) says, "When the Devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time." The part that jumped out at me in this was that he left until an opportune time. Satan will wait until you are at your most vulnerable, then he will attack. We can't let ourselves be caught off our guard. Be alert and ready to fight with your double edged sword in hand and the Lord as your rear guard. The war has been won for us, but the battles continue.
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