My kids really like the show “Wild Kratts” right now. As a parent, I like it too. They get to learn about wild life in an entertaining way. Since my kids are into the super hero thing, the good guys verse bad guys approach while applying science couldn’t be more perfect for them. Yesterday my son says to me, “Mom I like the bad guys in Wild Kratts, but I don’t like the bad guys in real life.”
Yep, kiddo! I can relate to that. BUT… who are the bad guys in real life? I mean seriously. When we are watching a movie or television show it is obvious who the good guys and bad guys are. We can see the scheming, plotting, lying, and misbehavior. But in real life… its not so easy to see. We are easily deceived. Sometimes we trust people who are untrustworthy. Sometimes we too get caught up in “bad-guy” activity. Sometimes covering up something small seems in the best interest at the time… but then that snowballs…
All we have to do is turn on the news to see this. It’s amazing how two different television stations can air the “same” news story yet leave you thinking two different things. Each station has their own agenda with their own backing. They tell the story through those lenses.
For example, the news back in early 2000s had us all thinking Iraqis and Afghanis were all terrible people and terrorist who wanted to destroy America. We feared them due to 9/11 and the media hype around the situation. But my husband, who served for the Army in both Iraq and Afghanistan, would tell you most people who lived there just wanted to be left alone. 98% of the population were good people. Those stories were never told, because in order to support the War on Terror, we needed to be scared.
People do the same thing. We all have our own lives. We all have our own agenda… and we all want to be liked. So, sometimes we fall victim to the schemes of the enemy and tell a story from our perspective that stretches a detail here or there, and now we have an innocent person believing a story that has only a little truth in it.
It’s not so easy to see the good verse bad when we are in the midst of it. But here’s the truth: the enemy is not a person. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12).” Satan is the enemy and we fall victim to his traps very easily.
This is why we must guard our hearts. We must not fall victim to the traps of gossip, the traps of twisting truths and lying, the traps of building ourselves up while tearing others down. So many times, when we think good and evil we think war, physical fighting, and murder. But I see the struggle with good and evil as truth verse lies. Wars do not start for no reason. Hate is not built over nothing. Something… or someone starts all that…
The truth is there is one good guy and one bad guy in this world. Obviously, Jesus is the good guy. Everything He does it to bring God glory. Not so obviously, Satan is the bad guy. He puts up little road blocks and detours so that we are led astray. He wants to separate us from God. He wants us to live in the world for the world. We are either influenced by good or evil, and our actions are an overflow of our hearts. Unfortunately for most of us, we are influenced by both- the good guy and the bad guy. Only we cannot see all the behind the scenes in real life. That is why putting on the Full Armor of God is so important. Arm yourselves with the word of God. Be prepared to stand against the schemes of the enemy- they are coming. You have to be prepared.
Now Jesus and Satan are not equals. Satan was an angel, a created being. Jesus is God. Satan’s equal would be Michael the archangel. One offers us eternity with God in Heaven, the other offers us instant gratification with a hole in our hearts. We all have a longing in our hearts. We are all searching for that something. That something is a peace only God can fulfill. Please remember- this world is not our home. Don’t get comfortable living your life the way you think you should live it. Live your life the way you know God wants you to live it!
I think much like my son, the reason I like the good guys verses the bad guys in the movies is because we know the good guys always win. Well, good news- the good guy has already won! Jesus has already defeated the devil! He crushed his head when He rose from the dead. AND he’s coming back! We know the end- Jesus wins!
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome, because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. Who then overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.…”
1 John 5:3-5