Satan's Primary Tool

My Bible study group has been having some interesting discusions here lately. Recently we've discussed being connected to the vine, (Jesus) and going through the difficult process of being pruned. And Tuesday we talked about being obedient with our God given talents, or spiritual gifts. The scripture we referenced Tuesday is found in Matthew 25:14-30. From reading this passage we find a great example of how God gives us specific "talents" we can use for reaching out to the lost and expanding God's kingdom through obedient service. But perhaps the most interesting thing in this passage is how it relates to Christians today. We all know there are many types of Christans. Those who are Active and those that are Inactive. Whether it be the ones who are always volunteering to lend a hand in the many areas of the church that need help or simply taking the time to ask someone how they are doing and showing that they care. Or the ones who just come to service on Sunday and never do a thing with the talents that God has given them. (I'm sure we all know a few of these type of Christians.) The important thing to understand in this is that God has given us our talents for a reason. We must use them to "double" the portion that was given to us.

Last night I was looking through my new Daily Walk Bible I got from my trip to Catalyst. I was just skimming through some of the pages and getting myself acquainted with it because I'm going to use it for my daily devotionals at the beginning of the new year. I just so "happened" to stumble across this...

Satan's primary tool is not an active sinner but an inactive saint!

I couldn't believe it! Right there in front of my face was a thought for that particular devotional that related exactly to what we've been talking about. And what's better yet is that it sheds a very big light on how Satan uses this as a tool against our Father. The Christians who waste their talents and bury them away are being used by Satan as a tool against our God. This is why it is so important for us to use our talents. If we don't use them for God, Satan will use them against God! Perhaps this is why we see Jesus reacting so harshly against the third servant who didn't use his talent.

My prayer is that we Christians, brothers and sisters in Christ, will recognize this tool Satan has used against our Father for so long and we will strive to take that tool away from him. It is so important for us to encourage one another to step out in faith and use what God has given us as our talents. It doesn't matter how many talents we have, as we can see in Matthew 25:14-30, but whether or not we double it by applying it to our Christian lives. I would love to encourage everyone reading this to read this passage and really think about how this is being used in your life. Is it being used for God's will and purpose? Or is it being used against God by Satan to keep the lost from learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?