Yesterday was Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you). And so I was going through some of my favorite scenes in my head and I remembered a scene from Episode 3 where Senator Palpatine is talking to Anakin Skywalker. The senator is really a sith lord who is trying to attain power and control and he is trying to sway Anakin over to his side. He knows that Anakin struggles with the fear, particularly losing his wife, Padme. So to get Anakin over to the dark side, Senator Palpatine doesn’t tell Anakin to go out and start killing people; he doesn’t try a bold, in-your-face move like shooting lighting. Instead he subtly plays on what Anakin desires: the ability to stop someone from dying. Then Palpatine implies that he can teach Anakin this ability.
And boom: the seed is planted, and Darth Vader begins to grow.
This scene reminds me so much of how Satan works in our lives. If the devil told you to go rob a bank or kill someone, you would boldly say, “Get behind me Satan!” But when he calmly asks why you don’t have a nicer (house, car, clothes, phone, etc), or do you remember when that person (hurt you, stole something, was rude), or what’s going to happen if (you run out of money, a loved one passes, things get worse), all of the sudden a seed is planted in our mind and if we entertain it too much, it begins to take root.
“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1-14-15)
A lot of times we armor up, expecting Satan to attack us with a full-on frontal assault. But more often than not, he simply makes small comments like “Did God really say…” or “If you really are…” (Gen 3:1, Matt 4:3).
After Anakin swore himself to Palpatine and asked him to show him how to stop people from dying, Palpatine said that he didn’t, in fact, know how to do it. Satan often tempts us with things that he has no intent or power to deliver.
Don’t give in to the Dark Side. And may the forth be with you!
