Midnight Liar

Last night I had an unwelcome guest arrive after I went to bed. I call him Midnight Liar. He usually shows up late in the evening when all turns to silence and he has a quiet audience. He demands full attention. When he opens his mouth, he spews forth distorted facts, exaggerated conclusions and falsehoods as if there is no end to them. He tends to wait until you are all alone, or until the hour is too inconvenient to phone or wake someone else to gain perspective on his reasoning.
Do you know who I am talking about? Has he been to your house as well?
I bet he has. He is forever trying to convince me that my plans will fail, that I will not measure up, that I am not good enough, that what I do, or plan to do, will not meet with approval... His list is endless. And does he ever have a knack for distorting truths!? His reasoning sounds quite plausible, until closer investigation. It follows more or less this pattern: upon digging up the bones of cavemen, archaeologists did not come upon the remains of any clothing. It therefore follows that caveman did not wear clothes, but went about naked. Plausible. However, further investigation leads to conclude that only the most hardened materials, such as bone and stone survived the passage of time. It can therefore also logically be deduced that caveman's clothes perished, along with his flesh and most everything else. Equably plausible! Of course Midnight Liar did not visit me in order to reason about whether or not caveman wore any clothes. He came to me with my own personal set of concerns and worries and he dressed them up in ghoulish uniform and paraded them past me as nightmares. I almost did not recognize them for the same issues I believed to have had a hold on earlier in the day, when the sun was still out and shining brightly. This reminds me of a visit that Jesus had from the Father of Lies, way back when He was only beginning His ministry here on earth. This liar also boded his time and waited for his prey to relax His guard, before he struck his poisonous arrows in His back. Again the attack was tailor-made for its intended victim. Jesus had a mission to complete which entailed establishing a Kingdom on earth for His Father. He knew it was going to be a hard and arduous task. In order to prepare for it, He went into the desert and fasted for forty days. This was when he was harassed by the devil. After three days, the devil came to tempt Him with promises of making it easier, of assisting Him, sympathetic lies woven especially for his audience of One. You can read the story in Luke 4:1-13. If you read verse 13, you will see that the New King James Version states that

"he departed from Him until an opportune time."

Last night he found an opportune time at midnight in my house. I sent him on his way and told him his game was getting old.I wish I could tell you to simply not open the door to the Midnight Liar, but it will probably not be that simple. He seldom knocks. Polite is not a word in his vocabulary. So how do you defend yourself? I guess it comes back to that well-known passage in the Bible (Ephesians 6:10-20) that has us dressing in soldier's uniform as believers. It says to gird our waists with truth. Is your cover-up held together with truth, or have you swapped your truth for a fanciful lie? Have you sold out and given up? What defense have you got ready then for the day when the Midnight Liar knocks on your door? I listened to a preacher on the radio this morning telling the story of the rich young man who was ordered to sell everything in order to follow Jesus (Mark 10:17-22). Perhaps it is time for a garage sale so that we will have less obstacles with which to be tempted, and so that we become more focused on Jesus.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans.For more crafty ideas and great products, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.You can subscribe to this blog and receive regular updates by email by simply registering your email address at the top of the current blog.