Resist Temptation

Beloved: We have this confidence in him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, we know that what we have asked him for is ours. If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly. We know that anyone begotten by God does not sin; but the one begotten by God he protects, and the Evil One cannot touch him. 

We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the Evil One. We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us discernment to know the one who is true. And we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Children be on your guard against idols. (1 John 5:14-21)

Is the whole world under the power of evil even though we belong to God?  If we grant power to evil, then we who belong to God disregard that relationship and side with demons.  According to Father Andrew Greeley in his 1976 book “The Devil You Say! Man and His Personal Devils and Angels,” “We are born with many of our demons and collect most of the others in the early years of life.  From one point of view original sin is nothing more than the collection of demons that we all must fight to achieve mature, responsible adulthood.” 

Our reading and Greeley remind us of the three temptations of Christ: Riches, Vanity, and Power.  We are all subjected to these temptations, and many of us succumb.  The devil wins; evil triumphs.  One recourse is prayer such as the St. Michael Prayer that goes: "St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.  Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.  May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.  Amen.”

John, in his first letter, said the Evil One cannot touch us due to God’s protection.  That protection is eroded when we seek riches, are vain, and desire power – three temptations Christ resisted.   Can we?

Deacon David Pierce