"WE ARE NOT IGNORANT!"

2 Corinthians 2:5-11                                    (ESV)
"5 Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure-not to put it too severely-to all of you.
6 For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough,
7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.
9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.
10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of CHRIST,
11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for "WE ARE NOT IGNORANT" of his designs."



One of the most painful days in my life occurred while visiting my Spiritual father, the man who was my pastor when I was called by the LORD.  My mentor had been moved to another church and we were visiting he and his wife for a couple of days.  My youngest son was around 2 years old and was walking around their house. Their cook stove was electric and my son couldn't SEE the elements were still HOT!  He mildly burned his little finger tips while reaching to feel on the countertop that he couldn't even see!  I would have gladly taken the pain for my son, but he learned an invaluable lesson about the dangers of what you look at, but cannot SEE!

The enemy is described in Genesis 3:1 as the "most crafty" of all creatures ever created.  When he tempted Eve he twisted what GOD had declared and so began the fall of man.  GOD IS TRUTH (John 14:6) and satan is a liar (John 8:44-45) and we need to get an understanding of who we are serving.  As the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:11 "so that we would not be OUTWITTED by satan", we need to be on guard for his deceit (1 Corinthians 15:29-34)!  Satan's desire is to "sift us like wheat" (Luke 22:31), to get us so busy we can't SEE his tricks.  But our objective should be that "WE ARE NOT IGNORANT" of his schemes.

My young son hadn't been told that by his dad of the danger putting his hand on an electric stove, whether it looked hot or not!  He was ignorant of the way an electric cook stove worked.  Conversely, "WE ARE NOT IGNORANT" of the devil and his deceit, for we have the WORD to alert us of his tactics!  If we are too "busy" to read GOD's WORD about the schemes of the devil, we have only ourselves to blame.  You can't expect to drive onto a flooded road and not experience consequences.  Reading, and KNOWING, GOD's WORD, assures us that "WE ARE NOT IGNORANT" of the wiles of the enemy, and we are vessels to be used for GOD's GLORY!