Make sure God says, ‘My world and welcome to it’

Religion Columnist

One of my favorite childhood books was entitled, “My World and Welcome to It.” It was by James Thurber and included a group of childhood stories about the author’s family. The book was actually made into a short-lived television series (NBC, 1969-70).

Anyway, I was reminiscing about that recently and connected it to Satan’s offer to Jesus while he was fasting in the wilderness shortly after his baptism (Matthew 3:13 to 4:11; Luke 4:1-13). Amidst tempting Jesus with food (remember he’d been fasting) and to test God’s love, Satan basically said, “Here’s my world and if you’ll bow down and worship me, you’re welcome to have it.”

In Luke’s account, Satan claimed that all the authority and splendor of the world’s kingdoms belonged to him. Jesus didn’t dispute that although everything in the world, including sunshine and rain, and even authority, belongs to and comes from God (Psalm 24:1; James 1:17; Matthew 5:45; Romans 13:1). Satan was probably referring to the souls of the citizens and the greatness of the Gentile kingdoms (God already had the Jews) – their pride of life – as opposed to their wealth of natural resources and beauty, when he mentioned splendor (1 John 2:15-17).

Even then, I suspect that if God had given Satan any authority over the kingdoms of the world, there also would’ve been limitations in which Satan would still have to submit to God’s authority as when he was permitted to torment Job (Job 1:6-9; 2:1-8) and as indicated by the fact that he had to leave when Jesus told him to go away.

So, what’s the point of this article?

Satan also will offer us all sorts of worldly pleasures, but they’re short-lived and the consequences are disastrous (Hebrews 1 1:24-26; Romans 6:21-23; Revelation 20:11-15). Even if we sell our souls to the Devil, he has to give them back to God (Ezekiel 18:4; Ecclesiastes 12:7; Matthew 10:28).

Satan is the father of lies and he’ll use whatever trickery he can to lead us astray, including distorting scripture. But we can use the same tactic Jesus used to counter Satan’s trickery – the truth of the scriptures, which is part of the armor God provides to defeat Satan (John 8:44, 31-32; Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 2:11). Because Satan’s authority is still limited and Christians have the authority of scriptures and Jesus’ presence, we actually have authority over Satan and we can make him leave us alone (1 John 4:4; Galatians 3:26-29; 4:6-7; James 4:7).

If we’ll submit ourselves to God’s protection against the Devil, when Jesus comes back, he’ll say to us, “This is my world and you’re welcome to it (Matthew 25:21; 2 Peter 1:10-11; 3:10-13). Even now we can enjoy some of the good things of Jesus’ world (Hebrews 12:28-29; Ephesians 1:3-14).

Have you submitted yourself to God through Christian baptism to fulfill righteousness and receive his Spirit and the power you need to withstand Satan? Are you using that power daily to begin enjoying the long-term (eternal) pleasures Jesus offers?

Leonard Lauriault is a member of the Church of Christ in Logan. Contact him at [email protected]