The devil within. Maybe this isn’t central to our theologies, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for some time and I wanted to kick the tires with y’all. What if the devil isn’t who we think he is? What if he’s not real at all, but every bit as real as we believe him to be at the same time? To boil it down, what if the devil is just each one of us?

Devil’s in the details. I know the Bible says that Lucifer led an angel rebellion in heaven, but if heaven is as I’ve been led to believe, how could anyone care to leave that place? Why would anyone want better than paradise? How could anyone want more than fulfillment of the soul?

A dark reality. I believe we are all made in God’s image, but I also believe that the other contingency of our being is made up of the less than heavenly. This journey we’re on is meant to teach us what specifically is less than good and help us deal with it all and rectify some. The journey is meant to bring us closer to the heavenly realm, but only by the realization that we are far away from it and we need help reaching farther upward. We all know we’re flawed, but maybe we’re flawed to the point that we are each our own satan.

The cold awakening. Yes, I just called you the devil. However, I also called myself and everyone the devil as well. Not to ignore the good within all of us, but wouldn’t it make sense if the ruler of this age was our natural human waywardness? Doesn’t it make sense that the sin we so readily shrug off is actually very much a part of who we are? The “that’s not who I am” is just a lie meant to make us feel better about the light within each one of us. Truth is, that particular sin (thought, intention or action) is deeply a part of who we are or were at the time. In the same way, can we not also be the evil one who brought us to that point in the first place?

There is a light. Friends, I do believe in the goodness of mankind, but I have to temper that with the words of Jesus that say no one is good. Yes, there are evidences of God in each one of us, but all of us are tainted by imperfection and that’s fine. It’s how we deal with that imperfection that makes or breaks us. Whatever we do with it, the imperfection is still there.

The bottom line, whether you think I’m crazy or not, is we’re all in need of a Savior. Our nature to stray from good and seek immediate gratification is too great for us to overcome. Hearts are too flawed for everyone to just get a free pass to heaven. We need something more, something, someone to save us. That person is Jesus, God Himself. We need a faith that clings on to a hope for both today and eternity. We need a God who came down to this rock that can be cold and blustery and lived a life that ended in the perfect sacrifice that atoned for an eternity of wrongdoing. We need a God who loves us more than we could ever understand. And here He is. Selah.