The Crafty Old Thief

What if the devil slithered into your room one night and threatened to steal everything you have? Would you know how to respond? Does the very thought strike fear into your heart?Uncertainty breeds fear, and we certainly live in uncertain times. Look around you--threats of violence and death, financial instability, natural disasters, pandemics, cancel culture, and war headline every news story and dominate nearly every conversation. The devil would have you trembling at all you could lose.But the child of God is not called to live in fear: 'For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind' (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV). We are called to fix our eyes not on the temporal but on the eternal (see 2 Corinthians 4:17-18). We have 'everything we need for life and for godliness' (2 Peter 1:3 GW) and the weight of glory before us! Yes, this is the fallen world, and in it, we do have suffering. Yet even in this fallen world, we can find tremendous beauty in the blessings of nature, which point to our transcendent God and remind us that we are 'rich beyond measure and blessed all the day long.'The Bible makes it clear that as history draws to a close, the days will get darker, and troubles will increase (see 2 Timothy 3:1). If we are to be a light in the darkness, we must have clarity of mind and courage of conviction in these, which may very well be the Last Days. We have reason not to fear but, rather, to sing! We are closer to our eternal treasure than we have ever been!This is the goal of The Crafty Old Thief--to keep the eternal ever before the face of the children of God, keeping us certain of who we are and all that we have in Christ. This certainty results in a heart overflowing with joy (which is the prize our enemy the devil longs most to steal).Using dramatic narrative poetry to make its message both entertaining and more easily remembered, The Crafty Old Thief offers the child of God timeless truth, perspective, and encouragement to fend off the fiery darts of the enemy and--no matter what comes--to 'keep singing your song!'Let the saints be joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud on their beds. (Psalm 149:5 NKJV)