Lots of things look really good to me that by experience I know lead to false promises, bad decisions and painful consequences. You and I shouldn’t be surprised by this. Paul, in a warning about false teachers infecting several early churches, added this insight: even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Satan still camouflages dreadful philosophies and lifestyles in bright, shiny packages. Anything to deflect you and me from the truth, and to keep our eyes turned away from what matters to the Lord.

I’m drawn to the latest tech gadgets, be it a new phone or faster, thinner computer. I live in Colorado and beefy SUVs catch my eye. I would savor life better behind the wheel of one. But that’s not true. I have an quality phone and a fast, thin computer. I drive a Jeep. But I want more. I believe the lie that I need more stuff to enjoy life. But the truth is that things are to be used, and people are to be enjoyed. I flip that to my detriment.

I like feeling secure. So I count on money and resources to make me happy and safe. Yet the Scriptures say that money is the root of all sorts of evil. Which is why a false angel sends me in that direction. Jesus said, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? I can stay generous with the money in my hands. God has plenty and shares willingly.

Another virus infecting my thinking tells me that I’m the master of my own fate, the captain of my life. I sit upon the throne of my life. But the longer I’m in charge, the more I veer dangerously off course. Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life—not me, and not the evil one in disguise.

Other lies entice me to cheat on the ways of God. What about you? How does Satan manipulate your heart? The tempter knows his business and continually throws up clever facades. Our only hope is to seek guidance from the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. Satan’s falsehoods flicker and go dark, but the light of Christ shines brighter the longer we seek it out.

2 Corinthians 11:14

Photo by Niklas Hamann