Satan’s Convention
Satan called a worldwide convention of demons.
In his opening address he said, “We can’t keep Christians from going to church. We can’t keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can’t even keep them from forming an intimate abiding testimony of their Savior. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken.”
“What shall we do?” cried his evil angels.
“Let them go to their churches; let them have their dinners and parties and conservative lifestyles, BUT steal their time…so they can’t develop a relationship with God.”
“This is what I want you to do,” said the Devil: “Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!”
“But how shall we do this?” shouted his demons.
“Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds,” the Devil answered. “Tempt them to spend, spend, spend—and borrow, borrow, borrow. Enslave them to work. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours—and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work! Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice. Entice them to play the radio or CD player loudly whenever they drive. Have them keep the TV, VCR, DVD players, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their homes. See to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays raucous music constantly. This will jam their minds and break any connection with Christ. Fill their coffee tables with sensational magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogues, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes. Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so the husbands will believe that outward beauty is what’s important, and they’ll become dissatisfied with their wives. Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands. If they don’t give their husbands the love they need, they will both begin to look elsewhere. Give them headaches too! Ha, that will fragment their families quickly!
Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from any recreation exhausted and tired for the coming week. Keep them too busy to go out in nature and in quiet moments reflect on God’s creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead—and have them do it every weekend—especially on Sundays. Keep them busy, busy, busy! And if and when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in small talk and gossip so they leave with troubled consciences and hurt feelings. Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek real power from Jesus. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause. It will work! It will work!”
It was quite a convention, an ingenious strategy—a great plan! The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get more busy and more rushed, going here and there quickly, having less and less time for their God and their families. I guess the on-going question is—has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge! Does “busy” mean: B-eing U-nder S-atan’s Y-oke?
Are you too BUSY?!
~Author Unknown
Doctrine and Covenants 88:121
Psalms 25:15
Ecclesiastes 3:1
Doctrine and Covenants 109:8-9
[submitted by Brother Bruce Barton]