The Greatest Thief

Joel 2:9

They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

We hear all the time on television, radio and in the newspaper about thieves who break into homes and businesses and steal the goods of these places, often even taking lives of those who happen to be present at the time. There is nothing more despicable to me than one who steals from another. It may be goods, money or innocence that is stolen, it does not matter, it is all devastating.

Jesus spoke of the thief that comes to steal, kill and destroy. It is not new to any of us and we all know who that thief is. It is of course the devil, Satan. All of us can relate incidences in in our lives when we know that this thief has stolen from us. The great tragedy of this is that we have authority over this thief and he should not be able to steal any thing from any Spirit-filled believer.

I want to show you today that Satan is not the real thief in your life as a believer. As I have already stated, you have authority over the devil, so he should not be able to break in and steal from you. The reason that he is able to steal from you and to defeat you is not that he is so able and powerful, it is because of your openness to him, your willingness to let him steal from you or defeat you. It may be because of ignorance or it may be through unbelief or just simply neglect that he is given an entrance into your life. In any case, it is basically because of your openness to him. He has no other entrance to you and your goods.

Paul knew this, he exhorted the Ephesians, “neither give place to the devil.” We too must take seriously that instruction and be certain that we do not give place to the devil. I can assure you that if you give him an opening, he will come in and will steal, kill and destroy in your life. If you do not open up unto him, he will not have access to your life. Keep him shut out at all times and he will not be able to steal from you.