The Gentle Slope

C.S. Lewis novel, The Screwtape Letters, about spiritual warfare from a demon’s point of view made a lot of wonderful points.  One of which was, “The safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”  How true that is!  Even the most dedicated Christian can find himself taking the easy road.  The one with the gentle slope.  Satan is kind of like Wile E. Coyote.  He was always trying to do the Roadrunner in.  He would turn signs around or remove them, all to get the Roadrunner to go the wrong way in to his trap. He wanted to eat that Roadrunner.  It is the same with us.  Satan is the hungry lion seeking someone to devour all the time.  He looks for the weak ones, just like a lion.  So he starts throwing little things your way to see where you are weak.  Once he figures that out then he starts pounding harder at your areas of vulnerability.  He does it gradually.  You don’t even realize it is happening sometimes.  It is like taking the leisurely afternoon stroll after dinner down that gentle sloping path through the countryside. Pretty soon you are lost, not knowing how you got to where you are.  Then the devil likes to use guilt trips to sink us further.  He puts blinders on our eyes using our emotions, so we don’t see God’s signs giving us directions on how to get back to the house.  He will use fear of what others will think of us to further close our ears to God’s voice that is calling us back.

II Corinthians 11:3 reminds us about how subtle Satan is with us, “3 But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.

You remember what happened in the Garden of Eden.  The Fall of Man happened because Satan subtly tempted Eve with deceptive words.  He twisted ever so gently what God had told them.  He used her desire to lead her away from God with one bite of the forbidden fruit.  It is a lesson to us to not let our desires get the best of us.  We need to only act upon desires that God allows or has placed on our hearts.  It is also great wisdom to realize that we too can be led astray.  We too can walk down that gentle slope.  Wisdom would dictate that we need to be on guard.  The best way to be on guard is to be in constant communication with God.  We need to be seeking His direction.  He will tell us what path to wonder down.  We should not just take off on our own.  We need to have His Word in our hearts, so that the Holy Spirit can give us clear signposts to follow.  So let wisdom be your guide down God’s path.  It may not be a gentle one he puts you on, but He will provide for you and protect you along the way.  He will give you the energy to climb tough paths and when you need it He will make His gentle slope for you to saunter down while you rest for a bit.

The Gentle Slope

C.S. Lewis novel, The Screwtape Letters, about spiritual warfare from a demon’s point of view made a lot of wonderful points.  One of which was, “The safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”  How true that is!  Even the most dedicated Christian can find himself taking the easy road.  The one with the gentle slope.  Satan is kind of like Wile E. Coyote.  He was always trying to do the Roadrunner in.  He would turn signs around or remove them, all to get the Roadrunner to go the wrong way in to his trap. He wanted to eat that Roadrunner.  It is the same with us.  Satan is the hungry lion seeking someone to devour all the time.  He looks for the weak ones, just like a lion.  So he starts throwing little things your way to see where you are weak.  Once he figures that out then he starts pounding harder at your areas of vulnerability.  He does it gradually.  You don’t even realize it is happening sometimes.  It is like taking the leisurely afternoon stroll after dinner down that gentle sloping path through the countryside. Pretty soon you are lost, not knowing how you got to where you are.  Then the devil likes to use guilt trips to sink us further.  He puts blinders on our eyes using our emotions, so we don’t see God’s signs giving us directions on how to get back to the house.  He will use fear of what others will think of us to further close our ears to God’s voice that is calling us back.

II Corinthians 11:3 reminds us about how subtle Satan is with us, “3 But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.

You remember what happened in the Garden of Eden.  The Fall of Man happened because Satan subtly tempted Eve with deceptive words.  He twisted ever so gently what God had told them.  He used her desire to lead her away from God with one bite of the forbidden fruit.  It is a lesson to us to not let our desires get the best of us.  We need to only act upon desires that God allows or has placed on our hearts.  It is also great wisdom to realize that we too can be led astray.  We too can walk down that gentle slope.  Wisdom would dictate that we need to be on guard.  The best way to be on guard is to be in constant communication with God.  We need to be seeking His direction.  He will tell us what path to wonder down.  We should not just take off on our own.  We need to have His Word in our hearts, so that the Holy Spirit can give us clear signposts to follow.  So let wisdom be your guide down God’s path.  It may not be a gentle one he puts you on, but He will provide for you and protect you along the way.  He will give you the energy to climb tough paths and when you need it He will make His gentle slope for you to saunter down while you rest for a bit.