Written by: Becky Hunter in Becky Hunter's Random Bits of Wisdom on May 8, 2012

“In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil” (Ephesians 6:16).

I recently re-read one of my favorite books, The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.

The Screwtape Letters are 31 letters that Lewis wrote from the viewpoint of a senior demon named Screwtape to his nephew, Wormwood, a younger and less-experienced demon. Wormwood is charged with guiding a human toward "Our Father Below" (the devil) and away from "the Enemy" (God).

In the book, the human converts to Christianity and Wormwood is chastised by Screwtape, who explains to his protege the different agendas that God and the devils have for the human race. "We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons." Screwtape tells Wormwood to promote passivity and irresponsibility in the human: “[God] wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them."

I seldom focus on the Devil because I find that the more I focus on Christ, the less interesting the Devil becomes. But every now and then it doesn’t hurt to be reminded that the Devil is alive and well and that his game plan is trouble for us.

“Irritation in the heart of a believer is always an invitation to the devil to stand by.” - Anonymous