Do Not Make Things Easy on the Enemy

Note from today’s Bible reading: 2 Chronicles 32-33; Nahum 1-3

During the reign of Hezekiah, the king of Assyria invaded Judah and intended to make war against Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 32:1-2). Hezekiah and his people wanted to make sure they made the Assyrians’ mission as difficult as possible.

So they stopped up the water supply outside the city that the Assyrian army could have used. They said, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?” (2 Chronicles 32:4). They could not fight without water, so the people of Judah cut off the water supply.

Hezekiah also “rebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and erected towers on it, and built another outside wall and strengthened the Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number” (2 Chronicles 32:5). If the enemy was going to attack, they wanted to be ready with the best defense possible.

Today, we have an enemy in Satan seeking to destroy us (cf. 1 Peter 5:8). We should make His mission against us as difficult as possible by overcoming our sinful desires and avoiding situations in which we may be strongly tempted to sin. We also need to treasure God’s word in our hearts and surround ourselves with godly people who can encourage and strengthen us. If we do this, the devil will have a much harder time leading us into sin.

So do not make things easy on the enemy. Instead, eliminate opportunities to sin and strengthen your faith. We are not trying to defend an earthly city; we are trying to preserve our eternal soul.