Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from conservative values. But we can do something else. We can keep them from forming an intimate, abiding experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken.
"So let them go to church. Let them have their conservative lifestyles. But steal their time so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ."
"Here is how I want you to do this. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day."
"But how shall we do this?" shouted one of his angels?
"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent numerous schemes to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, then borrow, borrow, borrow. Convince the wives to go to work and the husbands to work 6-7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their life-styles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their families fragment, soon their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work."
"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive, to keep the TV, the VCR, their CDs going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ. Fill their coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day and invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, sweepstakes, mail order catalogs, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes."
"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from it exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week."
"Don't let them go out in nature. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead. And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotion."
"Let them be involved in soul-winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family unity for the good of the cause."
Well, in the end it was quite a convention. The evil angels went eagerly to their assignments, causing the Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and rush here and there.
Has the devil been successful in his scheme? You be the judge.
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