The Devil Made Me Do It

Many years ago, a comedian that went by the name Flip Wilson, frequently used the line “The devil made me do it.”  It was a line that was always  good for a laugh; and, over the decades it has endured.  I know that it’s something I’ve been known to say at times – making fun of myself about something I may have said or done that maybe I shouldn’t have.

There are none of us that are immune from saying and doing things that we shouldn’t.  It may be something we cook up completely on our own, or it might be something the devil put before us as a temptation and we relented.  After all, we are not infallible humans.  But, our God is infallible, as is His Word – “Scripture is infallible, meaning it is exempt from the liability of error. Infallibility means that Scripture will never lead us astray.” (Ventura, New Exposition of LBCF 1689, p.40)

So how can we live our lives in such a way that we aren’t led astray – allowing the devil to make us do it?  We know that he is a tempter, doing his best to lead us into sin.  He’s going to whisper to us about temptations in areas that are our weaknesses.  If he can lead us deep enough, far enough away from a Godly life, there is hope on his part that we will turn our back on God.  Think about it – enough pain, enough sorrow, enough grief, etc. can create questions in our minds about the love of our God.  We ask, how can He allow such things to happen to me?  We must have an awareness that when we start to question God’s sovereignty, we’ve been giving credence to the whispers of satan.  He is relentless in his efforts to lead us down the wrong path.  I know you’re likely familiar with Jesus’ words in John 10:10a (TLB):  “The thief’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy.”     

In order to recognize the voice of our enemy we need to know what our God has to say about things.  His Word (the Bible) is our best weapon.  Ephesians 6:10-18 talks about the Armor of God and verse 17 specifically tells us:  “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”  However, even with that weapon in our arsenal, Satan will continue to come at us full force.  Consider the story in Matthew 4 when Jesus was led to the wilderness and was tempted by satan.  Satan would throw out a temptation and Jesus would simply reply, “it is written” and quoted scripture defying him.  But then Satan, in verse 6, replied back to Jesus “for it is written” and quoted scripture to Him.  I read one commentary that talked about how Satan knows the scriptures forward and backward and will try to use it against us – how he can out-quote us all day, every day.  It’s up to us to know God’s Word in such a way that we can use it against the temptations thrown down before us, just as Jesus did in that story.  (Matthew 4:1-11)  The result was “Then the devil left Him…”  (vs 11a)  

I heard someone tell a story several years ago, about how they had been on a trip to Israel and they actually went out to a pasture where there were hundreds (maybe even thousands) of sheep.  He witnessed the shepherds start calling out to the sheep and as they did, the different flocks would follow their specific shepherd.  In John 10:1-5 (TLB), Jesus tells this story:  “‘Anyone refusing to walk through the gate into a sheepfold, who sneaks over the wall, must surely be a thief! For a shepherd comes through the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice and come to him; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. He walks ahead of them; and they follow him, for they recognize his voice. They won’t follow a stranger but will run from him, for they don’t recognize his voice.’”     

In order to live a good Christian life, we must be led by the voice of God.  He’s generally not going to speak to us in an audible voice, but when there’s a decision to be made about something we’re unsure about, there’s frequently that still, small voice in our spirit that can guide us.  I believe by reading His Word and praying faithfully, we’ll be much more in tune with that voice.  Then as we move forward successfully we can proudly proclaim “God lead me through it”, instead of having to confess defeat and claim that “the devil made me do it.” 

Written by Karran Martin – November 30, 2024

[All bold emphasis is mine]