Every morning this week, as I sit on my patio watching the day begin, a coyote has run across my backyard. I think he lives just west of my yard. He is coming from the yard just east of my yard. He takes a short cut across my back yard to get back to his home. The family that lives on the east raises chickens. I suspect that the coyote has been looking for an easy breakfast. He may already have found it. The coyote is not malevolent. He is just being a coyote……doing coyote stuff…… eating chickens. He weighs the risks and rewards, considers his past successes in crossing my yard and justifies the trip. But, his plans for today run contrary to my plans and my neighbor’s plans.
So…..I am setting up an ambush. I will wait with a shotgun and put an end to this predator. I will pick a spot that offers me a nice, clean, safe, shot, load the shotgun with buckshot, and kill the coyote. Please understand, the coyote has done me no harm, though he may, some day. His only offense is that his plan for today just doesn’t fit into my plan for my yard and my neighborhood.
Here’s how it will work. I have chosen a 10 yard by 10 yard patch of lawn. There is a nice place nearby for me to hide. There is a clean 20 yard shot with a good backstop. The patch of lawn is right on his path from the chicken coop on the east to his den, somewhere on the west. If he steps into that patch, he will die and it will not be pretty. The way that this is set up, the coyote’s only hope for survival is to not set foot in that small patch of my yard.
You’ve probably sensed a metaphor here. But, in this metaphor, I am not the hunter. I am the coyote. I am not malevolent, I am just doing human stuff. And just like everybody else, not all of the stuff that I do is OK. I stand at the edge of a place that I know in my heart is a not a good place. But, there is something in there that I really want. I consider the reward, weigh the risks, and come up with a justification. On a good day, I can come up with several justifications. And sometimes…….I go for it.
Examples:
Using the copier at work for personal copies.
Parking in the handicapped spot…….just for a few minutes.
Carrying stuff in the bed of my pickup…..uncovered. Because sometimes it blows away.
Speeding……5-10 mph over the limit.
The problem is this: There is an intelligent, malevolent being who is working out his plan. He knows me. He knows my vulnerabilities. He is setting up his ambush. It is carefully designed, customized for me, and highly effective. If I set foot in his “kill zone,” he is confident that there is no escape for me. Furthermore, it is not just one ambush. He sets up dozens of them every day.
This is my daily encounter……..with Satan. I wander into his trap and he wins a small battle. The ambush may not end up for me as badly as it might for the coyote. But, it will put a little more distance between me and the righteousness of God. The trouble is that the small battles add up. If I am not careful, I can get comfortable wandering around in the bad places. If I am not careful, I can dumb down my morality. If I am not careful, I can find myself separated from God.
Back to the metaphor. I know that you are wondering. How did my coyote ambush work out this morning?
Well, the coyote didn’t show up. He made a smart choice. He made it home to his family. Good for him.
But………. I’ll be back, maybe not tomorrow……..maybe next week……maybe somewhere else in my yard. You can count on it. I am nothing……if not persistent.
Satan is like that.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1 Peter, 5:8, ESV