He That Sows Lies …

I recently finished reading The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien, the back story of The Lord of the Rings. One of the things that stood out to me was the strategy of Melkor, the evil enemy of the good creator Illuvitar. Melkor’s strategy was to feign (pretend) friendship with those he wished to seduce to his evil purposes, and in the midst of their conversations he would subtly sprinkle lies amongst truth. In the book this saying summarized his approach:

“But he that sows lies in the end shall not lack of a harvest, and soon he may rest from toil indeed, while others reap and sow in his stead.”

This is true of our enemy, Satan. It’s been his strategy since the Garden. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:14, “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” Like Melkor, or rather, Melkor like Satan, pretends to be our friend and subtly plants lies in our minds, then can simply walk away because he knows that eventually they will produce fruit in our lives.

But what if we could recognize his scheme and identify the lies?

What if we then uprooted them and removed the from our garden?

And what if, in their place we planted seeds of truth?

We can!

And how do we know his lies?

Counterfeit experts will tell you that the way they become experts at recognizing fake money is not by spending all of their time handling counterfeit bills. On the contrary, they spend the majority of their time handling authentic money. Then, when a fake bill comes into their hand, it simply doesn’t look right; doesn’t feel right.

The same is true for us. Rather than filling our hearts and minds with the lies of the enemy and the voices of the world that he uses to sow lies, we need to fill our hearts and minds with God’s truth.

Galatians 6:7-9 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

There is a battle for your heart today. It’s a very real spiritual battle. And it’s being waged on the battleground of our mind. It’s a battle between God and Satan, good and evil, truth and lies. And you have a say in the outcome of the battle by what you choose to listen to and believe. Fill your mind and heart with the truth of God’s Word. I pray that truth will win your heart today.