Satan Wants to Kill You
A couple of years ago, I was at a teen retreat over at Woodlands Camp. It started to rain – which is always a bummer when you are at camp – and we decided to do an “indoor game”. The best game we could come up with at the time was Bible Trivia. Well, we decided that everyone should play and we divided into teams. I wasn’t always picked first for the kickball game on the playground in elementary school but when you are a pastor, people are pretty happy to have you on their team when you are playing Bible Trivia. My team was pretty confident, the other team was glaring at us for having a “ringer” on the team, and I…I was kind of nervous. What if I missed a question? Do you know what that can do to your credibility in the eyes of a bunch of teenagers? Those people are ruthless!
The game went pretty well. We got basically all the questions right. So did the other team. It was actually so close that we had to go to a sudden death, best of 10 question format. Ten people from each team had to be asked a question individually. I was one of the ten for our team. I did the humble pastor thing and let everyone go first. A couple of questions were missed on each side and…you guessed it, the whole game came down to the final question asked to me. If I get the question right, we go into the next round. If I miss the question, out team suffers agonizing defeat.
The game show host, Jon Estes, drew the next card from the pile and asked me the final question. I will never forget it…at least not after all this! The question was “Jesus tells us that Satan is a ‘what’?” All eyes looked at me, I looked at Jon and calmly said “Satan is a liar.” The other team let out a collective sigh of despair, Jon nodded his head at me and flipped the card over and said “Oh, nooooooo! Actually, according to John 8:44, Satan is a ‘murderer!’” The place erupted in laughter, and dare I say even mockery (it was high school all over again!). I knew we should have played Pictionary.
I have never since forgotten that Jesus said that Satan is a killer. I know he is bad. I know he is mean. I know he lies. But Jesus said he murders – been doing it for a long time, and evidently he is pretty good at it.
I have been thinking about how Satan wants to kill us. I have been thinking about what Satan wants to kill. I have been thinking about the methods Satan wants to use to kill us.
And I have been praying about that.
I am praying that Satan will not kill you. That he won’t kill your home, your marriage, your dreams, your ministry. Please remember that Satan is very good at this. That is why I Peter 5:8 tells us to be self-controlled and alert, because “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Be alert. Control yourself. Resist Satan. Stand firm in your faith. Trust God.
We all have stuff going on all around us. Life happens. But Satan doesn’t have to win, no matter how bad he wants to kill you.
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Cathy Ferguson on May 18, 2009 1:31pm
But Randy, John 8:44 finishes with '...for he is a liar, and the father of it.' So Satan is a murderer from the beginning, but also a liar. We definitely need to be alert and stand firm in our faith, but your answer was correct...your team should have gone into the next round. I say you need a replay! Love, Aunt Cathy
Cathy Ferguson on May 18, 2009 1:36pm
But Randy, John 8:44 ends with 'for he is a liar, and the father of it'. You were right! Satan is a murderer AS WELL AS a liar! I'd demand a replay, your team should have advanced and I'd want to be on YOUR team! :-) Love, Aunt Cathy
Cathy Ferguson on May 19, 2009 9:56am
But Randy, you were correct. John 8:44 says Satan is called a murderer by Jesus, but he is also called a liar by Jesus in the same verse. I say this is a do-over. You were right. Love, Aunt Cathy