The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10.
We have just come into a new year, a time when many people reflect on the recent past and consider how to approach the near future. Last year was a particularly difficult one for many of us. The tribulations included, but were not limited to, the pandemic, political unrest and a spectrum of challenges in our livelihoods: some suffered great loss while others became busy to the point of being overwhelmed. All of these difficulties in the visible realm signify real spiritual conflicts. The powers and principalities that govern the world system have set themselves to oppose Christ and His truth. This opposition comes home to all of us, because we live in the world and are constantly exposed to its messaging.
“The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning” C. S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity. “All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. and the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day.”
At the beginning of the new year, and at the beginning of each new day, you may find it helpful to behold your Lord Jesus Christ—returning your thoughts to Him when they wander—and open yourself to His thoughts. Many believers through the ages have found this practice to be beneficial. Jesus told us, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” By our willingness to receive Him we demonstrate our love of the truth. And our responding to the truth, as He reveals it, vaccinates against deception. In this way His life has the opportunity to expand its influence within us as individuals and among us as a body.
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