“Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.” (John 14:30,31)
Throughout His life, Jesus gladly went without what the prince of this world offered Him. He was accustomed to say, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” The devil’s overtures were spurned over and over again by the one Man whose heart was always fixed and ready to love God more than anything and anyone else.
Jesus loved God and knew God’s love for Him like no other because He kept His commands. (John 15:10) His “no” to every strange god was a “yes” to the true God. The reward for His fidelity was an experience of God’s presence and fullness unmatched by any before Him. But this abundant life is now available to all who are Christ’s. “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
Would we have all of God? Then we must have none of what the god of this world dangles before us. We must count all his lavish offers of pleasure and gain as dung and nothing in comparison to what God has laid up for those who worship and serve only Him. “Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee …” (Ps. 31:19).
The gift of salvation is free; but there is a price to be paid if we would experience the fullness of God. Count the cost. The seducer offers you a heady experience in this world where you can have all your heart desires. But he is a liar and deceiver. You will end up horribly empty. “And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed” (Prov. 5:11).
Spiritual adultery not only destroys our soul; it denies us the incredible life we can have in God. The world has its store of supposed good laid up for us, and dares us to “go for it;” saying, “What have you got to lose?” The wise man knows the right answer to that question: Everything! Everything that is anything is found in God alone.
When the enemy invites you to his table, decline the offer; tell him you have too much to lose by partaking of his fare, and too much to gain by staying true to your covenant partner. Enjoy the feast God has prepared for you in the presence of your enemies.