There is a Proverb that I like to remind myself of daily. It says, “I went by the field of a lazy man, and by the vineyard of a man lacking common sense; and there it was, all overgrown with thorns. Its surface was covered with needles; its stone wall was broken down. When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and this is what I understood. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. So shall poverty come upon you like a robber.” (Proverbs 24:30-34) What this says to me is simple. If I live a lazy, irresponsible life I will get lazy, irresponsible results from what I do. If I live a sloppy life, I will get sloppy results.
The devil will be most happy with me if I choose to live this way, because he knows that I will be wasting away the life of abundance God has promised me. I have come to learn that I do not want to do anything that would make the devil happy. Scripture tells us to be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. In James 4:7 scripture tells us, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
So how do you resist the devil, and how do we draw near to God? Well, I believe you can do three things that would make it difficult for the devil to find you while he wanders about, and these same three things will bring you closer to God who then will come closer to you.
First, every day—each and every day—we should all wake up with the mindset that as soon as our feet hit the floor from a night of sleep, we will be focused on chasing something that the devil would never chase. You see, you don’t need to necessarily fight with the devil each day. Sometimes the best way to resist him is to chase something that he would never chase. So, the first thing that you should chase each day is the presence of God Himself. It doesn’t matter what your situation is at the moment. If you decide you are going to chase after God, you will be putting distance between you and the devil, and you will close the distance between you and God. For every step you take toward the presence of God, He will take two steps towards you, so that your effort to find Him is made easier by Him. And God is not difficult to find if you learn to wake up chasing after Him. Don’t wake up and go through the day pursuing things the devil can help you to get. The devil will never help you become a better person, nor will he help you have a closer relationship with the Lord (or anyone else!), so if you chase after these things, he will flee from you.
Then you should wake up chasing after a particular place to be. Just like he wanders about each day seeking whom he may find and devour, the devil hopes you will live your life wandering about without a real purpose of life or a place to be. Don’t give him this power over you. You ought to wake up each day chasing after something specific, a specific place, a specific location that you want to be because someone else expects you to be there. Now this may be to be a better person in your spouse’s life, or a better parent in your children’s lives, or a better friend to your friends. When you chase after being in a special place for someone else, the people who need you will find you more easily because they look for you to be where they need you. If you don’t have a specific place to be or purpose to fulfill, you give the devil the opportunity to entice you with the spirit of laziness. Your fields will be overgrown, your work will be of lower quality, and your relationships will be weakened, all because you do not chase after being where it is most important for you to be. The Lord saw that we would have this need, so He decided to be where we could always find Him: right in the middle of our hearts. So, learn to wake up chasing to be in a place where others can always be assured to find you.
Finally, wake up chasing after the need make yourself a better person so that you inspire someone in a positive way each day. Have something of yourself to bring each day and to transfer to someone else so that they will be inspired to pursue being better. They will find it if you inspire it. So, wake up each day chasing after being a better you. A lazy person will find a reason why things do not go their way, but the inspired person will chase after being better because they know someone else is counting on them for that. And they also know that a better person will do better things to make things better for other people.
Wake up determined to be something for someone else. In this way God sent Jesus to die for us. When God is for us, who can be against us? What can stand against us? Likewise, we ought to wake up each day chasing after the privilege of being there for others and to stand for others, so that they are not easily overtaken by those do not care for them. When God could do nothing better, He decided to send His only Son to save us. We can do nothing better when we choose to wake up and chase after being in the hearts of someone who needs our presence in their lives.
When God’s greatest people wake up each day to fulfill these expectations, they place themselves to help others live more abundant lives here on earth. If you learn to chase yourself in these ways, people will journey with you because you travel with them. Live a Delivered Life. Love you.
Live Delivered 