Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring- those who keep God's commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. -Revelation 12:17 (NIV)
In today's suggested scripture readings, a woman gives birth to a child who is arguably the Messiah. Then an enormous and powerful red dragon appears, representing evil (the devil), intent on destroying the child the moment he is born. But both the woman and the child are protected by God; when the child is born he is snatched up to heaven to sit on the throne and the mother is protected in a wilderness place by God.
What follows next is a divine war in heaven. Michael and his angels fight against the dragon and his angels. The dragon gets tossed out of heaven and tries to attack the mother of the child that God is protecting in the wilderness. Unsuccessful in his efforts, the dragon turns instead to waging war against the rest of the woman's offspring.
If this vision is about a woman giving birth to God's son, the Messiah, and evil's attempts to devour him and his offspring, then this story is about me and you. We too are children of God. The evil one, unsuccessful in his attempt to destroy the Messiah himself, has turned his attention to the Messiah's siblings, you and me. We can expect battles, daily battles, with this evil. But as John points out, we should keep God's commands in the face of this evil and hold onto our testimony about Jesus.
Is there anyone reading this devotional today that feels as if they are being attacked by the evil one? As people of faith, we believe that this battle has already been won by God in Jesus Christ. But it is important to stand firm in our faith and to resist evil and temptation in whatever way they present themselves. We do this not in our own power, but by claiming the power of Jesus. When we do this, we make the evil one mad just like the mother of the Messiah made him angry in today's text.
May God grant you the grace to make the evil one mad today by standing firm in the faith.
If you're interested in reading through the Bible in a year, tomorrow's suggested readings are Jeremiah 42-44, Psalm 48 and Revelation 13.
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