Ephesians 4:27 “Neither give place to the devil.”
Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”
The documentary “Free Solo” follows the amazing quest of rock climber Alex Honnold to climb El Capitan – the tallest granite rock face on the planet. Climbing a 3000-foot cliff is an amazing accomplishment, but Alex strove to do something completely unprecedented. He attempted to climb it without a partner, without ropes, and without any safely equipment. He was truly alone on that massive shear edifice with only his hands, his feet, his skill, his endurance, and his courage.
The fact that he attempted such a thing is in itself amazing. The fact that he accomplished rock climbing glory during the four-hour ascent is absolutely stunning. After all, doing so required flawless execution of an extremely difficult task over the span of hours, where the penalty of the slightest imperfection or distraction would be death. Watching the documentary made my hands sweaty, and I knew the outcome and wasn’t the one out there on the rock face a thousand feet in the air.
It was especially captivating to watch Alex create opportunities for leverage on a granite cliff that looked smooth, flat, and shear. Even though they were tiny, Alex used the smallest cracks, fissures, undulations, and imperfections in which to place his fingers and his toes. As a result, he was able to scale a seemingly unscalable rock formation.
Our adversary, the devil, is looking to scale our lives. Though we may believe our lives are like smooth, flat, and shear granite monoliths that give no place to the devil, we will be surprised and dismayed by the ability of our adversary to utilize the smallest cracks, fissures, undulations and imperfections as leverage against us.
No matter where we are on our Christian journey, we must be sober; we must be vigilant. We must be cognizant that we are wrestling against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places. We must be sensitive to the powerful truth that the slightest imperfection or distraction can bring about destruction and death.
PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO GUARD AGAINST ANY TEMPTATION TO GIVE ANY PLACE TO THE DEVIL IN OUR LIVES. We must protect against all attempts to gain even the smallest bit of leverage against us.
