Opportunities and Footholds

Leave no (such) room or foothold for the devil (give no opportunity to him).  Ephesians 4:27 AMP


God has an interesting sense of timing, and He can use anything or anyone to speak through.  I know this from personal experience, the latest of which occurred during Psychology class.  Yeah, I know...  God using Psychology! 

We were studying the Foot in the Door phenomenon= "the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request".  The book had even printed, at the end of the paragraph, these words:  "To get people to agree to something big, start small and build (Cialdini, 1993).  A trivial act makes the next act easier.  Give in to a temptation and you will find the next temptation harder to resist."  Psychology in Everyday Life, David G Meyers, pg 378

1 Peter 5:8 says that the devil is running around looking for someone he can devour.  How does he eat us up?  How do we find ourselves being eaten by him?  It starts with a small decision:  We give into a little temptation; we excuse an action or choice because it is no big deal or unimportant; and seriously, it won't hurt anybody, no one would even know.  We agree to a small request, a trivial act, and he has his foot in the door.  The he builds on that first step.  The next choice is harder to refuse, the next temptation is stronger, the next act isn't so trivial.  And we take another step closer to his gaping mouth.  We had given him a foothold, and he is using it to gain ground in our lives.  When did he start chewing on us?  When we took that first step!  He had us, and we didn't have a clue.

I started thinking of where the devil could get his insert his scaly foot:  Music, Books, Movies, TV, Friends, Work, The Internet,....  Now, I am NOT saying that all movies and tv shows are evil, and we should only be listening to old gospel music, and should never, ever get on the computer.  However, I do think we need to be guarding our hearts and minds as we are watching tv, reading popular fiction, surfing the web, listening to the radio, and hanging with our buds.  Taking every thought captive to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5) will go a very long way in keeping us from becoming lion chow, a snack for the devil.

Yep, God showed up in my Psychology class. He has an excellent sense of humor!