ARE YOU BEING WILED?
by: Bette Owens
“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Ephesians 6:11
Living for Christ here in this world is like a child walking through a candy store without wanting some candy. There are so many things in life that can tempt us as Christians. We already know what the world has to offer, but find it hard to believe that everything it has to offer is a trick of the Devil to trap us. Ephesians 6:11 talks about the wiles of the Devil. To wile someone you would persuade them or even manipulate them to do what you want. Wiles are the tricky, sly and deceitful things that the Devil uses to draw us away from God and His will. The Devil is an expert at distracting our attention away from God’s plan for us. In 1 Peter 5:8 it says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” We have to be alert and always watching. We cannot just sit back and get relaxed in our Christian life. The Devil is constantly seeking to lure us into his trap. That old Devil wants nothing better than to wile us.
Yes, Satan wants to wile you; he desires to woo you away from godliness to unholiness, he loves to make a fool of us and our Christian testimony, but he is sly. The Devil slowly gets our attention. He uses any means he can to slowly pull us away from Christ. He uses things like television, internet, magazines, ungodly friends, laziness and even disgruntled Christians. Before long we are thinking just like the world and we don’t even realize that we’ve been manipulated into a trap.
That old Devil slowly introduces us to things that are not of God. He gets us acquainted with something or someone who slowly lures us away from God and His Word. He will use seemingly innocent things that are appealing to us, but have no real eternal value for us. He knows exactly what will attract us. He knows just what each and every one of us are attracted to and what he can use to lure us. Just one little glance, just one little thought, little by little, inch by inch and before long we know all about that worldly idea. Oh, we think we know right from wrong, we think we are strong; but pretty soon, even what we know as wrong we are involved in, all because we looked briefly and tasted. The Devil is good at blurring our decision maker, and before you know it we are involved in things that are against God and the Bible and they are destroying us. Before you know it, we are lured away and involved in ungodly ideas and deeds.
The Devil also uses things that “seem” good to lure us away from God. He will use family, friends, a new baby, grandchildren, a job, and even sickness to get us off-track. I know many ladies who were busy serving in the church, going soul winning and teaching Sunday school, but when God blessed them with a baby, they stopped serving the Lord. The Devil uses that sweet little baby to lure us away from faithfulness, and before you know it the nursery isn’t good enough for your baby, and you get off-track and get farther and farther away from God. It happens with grandchildren. We can’t wait to be blessed with grandchildren, but when the grandchild arrives, we stop doing what we were doing for God because we are now a grandmother and it is time to retire and spend time with our grandchildren. Yes, mom and grand-mom, the Devil can use your child to wile you away from God. How about the friends that we have? If we are not careful the Devil will use them to wile us into his trap. We get so close to our friends that we don’t even realize Satan has used them to wile us. Just because you have a good friend doesn’t mean that Satan cannot use them to wile you.
If one of your children is getting married, you’d better be careful, because you can get so wrapped up with wedding plans that, before you know it, that old sly fox has you. Something as seemingly harmless as reading a book with only one worldly idea can put all kinds of wrong ideas in our minds. We have to be careful, we have to be on guard at all times and daily watch out for the wiles of the Devil. That old Devil knows how to slowly slip in and draw us away before we even realize what is going on. The only way to resist Satan is by getting in God’s Word and using His Sword to recognize and fight off the wiles as they come.
When we are tricked by the wiles of the Devil, we end up far away from Christ. The wiles of the Devil cause us to have a broken relationship with Jesus Christ. Sin and Christ cannot mix. Being trapped by the Devil is a scary place to be but so is being wiled by the Devil. We don’t want to be in his trap, but often we see no problem with his wiles. If you don’t want to be devoured by Satan, then keep a spiritual eye out for his wiles. The Devil is so sly that by the time we realize what is going on, our relationship with God is already destroyed and then we start to wonder how we got so off-track.
The wiles of the Devil are small tiny steps in the wrong direction that trap us into ungodliness. We need to make sure we are watching out for the wiles of the Devil. If we aren’t watching out for those little things that creep in, we will easily get caught in the big snare of the Devil. The only way we can stand against the wiles of the Devil is by obeying.
Ephesians 6: 11-18 says, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
We need to make sure we daily fill ourselves with the truth; God’s Word is Truth. We need to live righteous lives, obedient to every word of God. We need to make sure we are winning souls and spreading the Gospel. We need to live by faith, and that faith needs to be in Jesus Christ and His Word alone. We need to pick up our helmet of salvation and realize that if God is powerful enough to save from Hell, then His weapons are powerful enough against the wiles of the Devil. The sword of the Spirit, God’s Word, is our most effective weapon against the Devil, this evil world and our flesh. We need to read It, study It and memorize It. When the wiles come, will you recognize and avoid them, thus avoiding the Devil’s traps?
Mrs. Bette Owens
Pastor’s wife
Westside Baptist Church
Pacifica, CA