25. Deception

Key Bible Verses: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)

Oh, those tricky knights. They can swoop down and before you know it they “got-cha”. Here is a famous game known as Legal’s mate. You will notice in the first diagram that the black bishop is pinning the white knight (f3). If the white knight moves, the black bishop can capture the white queen. That is exactly what happened in diagram two. Here comes the deception. Notice that the white knight captured the black pawn (e5) leaving his queen open for an attack. We also see how the black bishop fell into this deception by capturing the white queen (d1) thinking his opponent just made a huge mistake. Now in diagram 3 the white bishop swoops up to capture the black pawn (f7) and puts the black king in check. The king cannot capture the bishop because it is guarded by the white knight, so, he moves to the square in front of him (e7). Here it comes. In the fourth diagram the second white knight moves to the open square (d5). Check mate! There is no place for the king to run.

The lure of going after something that tempts us with the promise of reward or pleasure can lead us to our own destruction. Satan can't make temptation work unless he can convince us to buy into the deception that yielding won't hurt us. How has “the great tempter” tried to deceive you?

My response: Lord, help me be aware of Satan’s tactics as I resist him and follow you.

Thought to Apply: Before God can deliver us we must undeceive ourselves. --Augustine of Hippo (Kent Crockett's Sermon Illustrations, www.kentcrockett.com)