Let

"Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray" (1 John 3:7).

I first remember seeing the phrase in elementary school, probably about fifth grade. It was on posters all over our school because our high school was doing the play by that name: "The devil made me do it." I have no idea to this day what the play was about but the phrase stuck with me. Over the years, I've heard people use this phrase, sometimes comically and sometimes as an excuse. "I didn't mean to do what I did; the devil made me do it."

Amazing how much we want to give the devil credit for the choices we ourselves make.

John would say we give the devil way too much credit. And we give other people way too much credit. In the verse printed above, there is a single key word on which everything hinges. In English, it's a simple, three-letter word: "let." John is seeking to keep his church on track, to keep them on the path of discipleship with Jesus. Undoubtedly, in the many cultural temptations that surrounded them, he has seen some of them wander off the path, but he also knows enough that any object, left to itself, will normally continue to proceed in the direction in which it is pointed. That's a physical law that generally applies to the spiritual world as well. So John knows that, if these disciples went off course, someone or something lead them there.

Still, he doesn't blame whatever that was, because he also knows there was a choice involved. The disciple had to choose to change direction, to pursue other things. The disciples "let" someone else in, something else to have influence, and they were led elsewhere. "Letting" leads to "leading."

The devil didn't make you do it. You "let" the devil (or someone else) lead you.

Granted, the choice to "let" gets easier over time. You make that initial decision to absent yourself from the church, the body of Christ. Maybe I'll just skip this worship service or this Bible study. I want to watch the big game. I need to go shopping. Just this once. And then once becomes twice and twice becomes a habit. We've "let" ourselves be led onto a different path. It begins with a choice.

But so does coming back onto the path. It begins with a choice to "let" Jesus lead you back on the path and set you in motion in the right direction again.

Will you let him lead you?