“Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve” (Luke 22:3).
TEXT —Luke 22:1-13
Message
A famous proverb among a large language stock in West Africa says that when wicked persons act out their evil thoughts and later protest the devil’s influence, we should disbelieve them. Their act is the product of an ingrained habit not allowed to be uprooted by heaven. The tendency to do evil is always present in them; they only need someone to prod them.
Judas had always been a covetous fellow. Satan reminded him of the old habit, and he fell for it. Contrast that with the attitude of two other disciples, Peter and John. They had always been faithful to the Lord. Christ asked them to prepare where to observe the Passover. True to character, they did so. Both parties acted on inbred nature: Peter and John on what Christ had built in them, and Judas on a satanic trait.
Testing times may emerge at decisive stages when we walk with the Lord. Here is Christ, about to observe His last Passover Feast with His disciples. The devil works on Judas’ old habit of betraying his Master. He feeds on that characteristic which Judas has refused to release to Christ to uproot. But here we have John and Peter. They have “left all”, including their hereditary behaviour, for Jesus to trash. Unlike in Judas, where he locates a home of greed, Satan comes and finds nothing to exploit for evil.
In order not to fail the critical tests of our salvation in Christ, we must constantly ensure that we have truly forsaken the luggage of the old nature: greed, worldliness, pride, lust, self-righteousness, self-will, prayerlessness, not heeding the signs of the times, not giving quality time to read and study the Bible, harbouring an unforgiving spirit, selfishness, spiritual laziness and so on. These cannot cohabit with the new life in Christ. Otherwise, the devil will readily find what to latch onto in us to lure us back into sin.
Thought for the day
It’s important to examine what you do and, more importantly, what you are.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
