Let’s start with a blunt statement: Satan steals souls with a smile and a kiss as much as he does a knife in the back.
That’s not to say the Devil can’t make you feel the pain: Sometimes he uses the stick (Job experienced the Devil doing his worst), but just as often he uses the carrot. The Devil has been known to offer us creature comforts. He likes to put people at ease, get them relaxed, satisfied, comfortable with the goods of this world, etc. And why not? This world has a lot to offer. Sure, what it offers is temporary and not comparable to the riches of Heaven, but that’s the thing: The riches of Heaven are later. I’ve never seen the riches of Heaven, have you? I have seen what money can buy in this world, and therein lies the temptation.
The devil works insidiously; he’s so effective at his conning that sometimes God’s people don’t even realize they’re being schmoozed by him. Sometimes we don’t even realize we’re being wined and dined by the Devil himself. It takes a clear, vigilant mind to recognize what our spiritual adversary is up to. And what is he up to?
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
(1 Peter 5:8)
He’s looking for a snack, and you’re on the menu.
And to get you, the Devil will offer you whatever pleasure this world has that entices you. He’ll offer you all kinds of things that feel good but which, ultimately, will condemn the soul. That takes us to the question under consideration: What is good?
James says that all good things come from God (James 1:17), but what is good? It’s a word we have turned into something subjective: “If it feels good do it,” the mantra goes…a mantra given to us by the Devil, by the way. The trouble with that phrase is, it abuses the meaning of the word “good.” Good is not subjective. Good is a standard. Good is, by definition, objective: You can know what it is and what it isn’t. What is good?
God is good…and what God gives is good, too.
The world has confused “good” with “pleasing.” Jeremiah called out the false prophets of the land, who tried to tell the sinners in the nation that everything was fine, that God wasn’t really going to punish them, and that they could keep on living sinfully with nothing to worry about…
For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
(Jeremiah 8:11)
Those false prophets were well-received by the people. Their message was “pleasing” and “felt good” for the people to hear, but it was a lie. There was no peace. Judgement was coming. Paul would warn Timothy of false preachers who would commit the same sin as those in Jeremiah’s day, preaching a message that the people wanted to hear, and not what they needed to hear…
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
(2 Timothy 4:3-4)
There will always be people desperate for reassurance amidst sinful living. And there will always be false preachers willing to provide it. Those sermons aren’t “good,” however; they’re lies of the Devil.
So what is good?
It’s not the Devil, nor is it what he gives, and it can be hard sometimes to cut through the haze of his lies to see the ugliness behind his seemingly good gifts. That’s where Bible study, prayer, and a constant focus on holy things comes in: When we live spiritually we’ll more easily spot the difference between the fake-goods the Devil offers, and we’ll be better equipped to recognize that which is truly good.
What is good?
God is good…and what God gives is good, too.
~ Matthew