And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
— Second Timothy 2:24-26
If one of the enemy’s traps doesn’t entice you, the authorities of the air will find other avenues. A friend may say, “I’m going to a sale. Can you come with me?” Why does this happen? Because the rulers have begun to work. Then, if you agree to go, your friend may say, “Look at that! It’s seventy percent off! Don’t give up this golden opportunity.” You are compelled to surrender and make a purchase. From that day, you find you don’t need someone to invite you again. You begin to look for sales and go by yourself. Without even realizing it, you have become a “shopaholic.”
One day while shopping, I met a man holding a very tiny baby and asked him how old the baby was. He replied that it was less than twenty-four hours old! His wife was a genuine shopaholic—just after delivering the baby, her first thought was to go shopping! She had been captured by the rulers of the darkness of this age.
The powers of the air and the earthly organizations work together to entrap us. If we don’t go along, they will try other things to gather us in. The powers will intensify their offerings to make them more attractive. They may entice us with entertainment or relaxation, attempting to get us to do something we wouldn’t have done otherwise, in order to snare us (2 Tim. 2:26).
Adapted from Joshua: A Life of Service, page 39.
Monday: “Problems in the Church Life are Normal (1)”