"Somebody's knocking,
Should I let him in?
Lord, it's the devil,
Would you look at him!
I've heard about him, but I never dreamed
He'd have blue eyes and blue jeans." Terri Gibbs
You see, the devil is a chameleon. He will change colors so he can look whatever way would be most appealing to us. Terri Gibbs' point in that song is that she has a weakness for blue eyes and blue jeans, so that's what her devil looks like. MY point is if we're expecting the devil to always have a pointed tail and a pitchfork, we're in for a rude awakening. If you're a person who is constantly having to watch your weight, as I do, your devil may look like cherry pie. Yesterday I was scrolling through Facebook and I saw where a friend was lamenting about how hard it is for her to get up on time in the mornings, so her devil looks like a snooze button. If overspending is your weakness, your devil may look like a sale paper. If someone has done you wrong, he may look like revenge. (Note: I'm not necessarily talking about Lucifer.)
As a long time runner, I've often heard and often said, "If running was easy, everybody would be doing it." Sometimes running is a struggle and we're faced with temptation to just stop. Back in 2008, a group of us went to Pennsylvania to run the Philadelphia Marathon (26.2 miles). In that race, at exactly the halfway point, 13.1 miles, our route took us to the finish line, where we had to circle around it and then start another 13.1. There was the big refreshment tent. Our car was nearby; the car that could take us back to the hotel for a nice, warm shower. What do you do when you're already feeling exhausted from running a half marathon, and you pass close enough to the finish line you could reach out and touch it? It would have been so easy right then to just stop and forget about the last half of that run. My devil that day was the finish line, but I'm happy to say I ignored him and finished my course.
The problem with the devil is he is so good looking. He always looks so tempting and so inviting, but when we give in to him, we hate what he does to us. Another line in that song by Terri Gibbs says,
"I'm getting weaker and he's coming on strong,
But I don't want to go wrong!"
If he presents himself as cherry pie, we love the taste but despise the way he makes us look later, even though he tells us it's made from fresh fruit. If he's disguised as a snooze button, we cherish the extra sleep, but get in trouble when we're late for work. When I circled around that finish line in Philly, I could've stopped right then and not run another step, but if I had, I'd still be hating myself for it now, eight years later. Some of us are old enough to remember "The Flip Wilson Show" from the early 70s. His favorite line was "The devil made me do it." Today, however, I choose to be smart and strong; smart enough to know when I'm being tempted to take the easy way out, and strong enough to overcome that temptation. And that means no cherry pie for me today, I'm gonna get up on time in the morning, and when I have to circle around that finish line, I'm just gonna wave and say, "See ya' later!"
Preston
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