"He must not be allowed to suspect that he is now, however slowly, heading right away from the sun on a line which will carry him into the cold and dark of utmost space."
The Screwtape Letters represent to me the deepest fears of Christians. Withing the letters, the devil Screwtape lays out the bare escenticals to leading Christians away from God and to him. In letter 12, Screwtape says that the key to the whole game is a man's "dim unease" in reguards to his direction on the path. He says, "If it gets too strong it may wake him up and spoil the whole game".
This fear of falling off the path is something I feel we must treasure. While no one likes to live in fear, and Jesus taught us not to fear God, I feel that this fear is something that should be used as a weapon againt the Devil. By checking our actions against scripture, our faith community, and asking in prayer for guidence, we have the ability to build stairs for ourselves and move that much further out of the pit the Devil is wafting us down.
I realize that this is a very short post in comparison to others that I have posted, but I feel that we drumbed out much of the prominant points in class and I don't wish to preach to the chior anymore than I already do.
In Him
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I really liked your post, Maggie! I am glad you brought up the point about fearing separation from God. I think sometimes we are unaware about how easily we are lead astray, and when we take time to think about how powerful the Devil is, it's hard not to be a bit afraid. I agree with you that this fear can be a shield protecting us from ignorance concerning our spiritual state. Regaurding fear, though, I think there is one more thing that needs to be mentioned. Romans 8:38&39 promise that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. Angels and devils are even mentioned in this passage. Although we can be pulled away for a time, we have the assurance that we will not be lost, but that eventually, our heavenly Father will call us back to him.
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