As I mentioned in one of my posts lasts week, I recently gave into the temptation to start smoking again. I want to thank you all for your prayers for me, because I have not smoked in over 2 days, and the desire to smoke has essentially ceased!
But that doesn't mean Satan has stopped trying to tempt me! He is still waiting to pounce, trying to wait for some moment of weakness to remind me that a cigarette would be such a great thing to have. But another one of Satan's tactics is taking locations of former temptation and sinful behavior and using it as a reminder. One such place for me is my front porch. About 15 minutes ago, I was emptying out the trash, and opened my front door to place to trash bag outside. In that short moment when my door was open, glimpsing at the chair on the porch, Satan presented me with a very vivid reminder of my smoking.
I closed the door, and did what I have been doing over the last 2 days whenever I get tempted: I just laugh and tell him, "Silly Satan, I don't smoke!" (In a tone very similar to the Trix cereal commercial where they say: "Silly Rabbit, Trix are for Kids")
But this time, I went one step further… To show Satan that I'm not afraid of him, I walked outside, sat down on my "smoking chair", listened to worship music, and BLOGGED! (i.e. right now as I write this, I'm sitting in my smoking chair) Satan has no power over me, because the Lord of Lords lives in me. I may stumble, but I have a Redeemer who will pick me up. I may occasionally accidentally wander off the narrow road, but my Guide will point me back to the road.
Instead of turning my front porch into my Samaria: avoiding it at all costs, I have opted to redeem it for godliness. I see it as a microcosm for the Gospel: God didn't avoid us, but instead He stepped into the sinful land, and redeemed it from the inside. Hallelujah for His unbelievable goodness!!!!!
