Get thee behind me!
When I read God’s Word, I often see accounts of Jesus reacting to temptation by saying, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” or “May the Lord God rebuke you!” I see what Jesus did and feel that I should do the same when confronted by the temptations of the devil to sin or somehow stray from God’s will for my life. “Get thee behind me, Satan,” I say, “and tempt me no longer!” Sometimes God gives me enough grace to resist the temptations, and Satan bothers me no more. But sometimes, just sometimes, I cringe after saying such a thing. “Get thee behind me, Satan?” For a moment, I’m sure the devil is just crafty and twisted enough to take those words as an invitation, to manifest himself into a gross physical form and literally sneak up behind me. Then I wonder, which of the two is the lesser evil--being confronted with temptation to sin, or having the devil, himself, tap me on the shoulder?