Party On

There is an old Quaker adage that says, “Mock the devil and he will flee from thee.” The Bible has a identical take on it when it states this “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7. In both of the quotes that I just shared we see a literal playing out of one Newton’s Laws (3) “ for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.” So the lesson here is if you want to really have the devil off your back throw a party. Remember that this can’t be just any party too; it has to be a party that is one of those parties that people laugh, dance and sing. The kind of party where there is good food and good craic, (Irish for atmosphere) parties where abundant life flows and joy abounds. The devil hates a good time, he hates the idea that life can be lived away from him and the sorrows and the strife that he wants for all of our lives.

 However, there is a large caveat here in that Satan too has infiltrated the party scene in that he wants twist parties into a place where the following mornings are filled with regret and pain. Today parties have become a celebration of our emptiness and brokenness, a place where we try to “hook up” with the right person or get drunk enough or high enough to take the edge off of our lives. You see James and the Quakers have it right in that if we really want to have the abundant life that God richly promises us we must choose God and resist or if you will mock the devil and when we do he will then have no foothold in our lives. Resist and mocking the devil aren’t easy but rarely are things that are necessary easy.

So the next time your life is more pits than cherries break out the party hats and recall all that is good and worthy of your gaze, grab some confetti and start up the grill, then celebrate the virtuous and rejoice in the meal that God has prepared for you a great and satisfying meal.

May all your Heartbeats be Irish

patrick