I felt something stir within me. Perhaps it is life, I thought. And then straightaway came the next thought – I ought to stamp it out. I ought to stamp it out, as befits a man of God, I said to myself. As befits a man of God. Satan must have sent it, I reasoned with myself – Satan must have sent it for sure. Is that not Satan’s way, to tempt us, to do his best to lead us astray?

Have we  not been told to fight against him with every last bit of strength that we have? Have we not been told to resist him? To oppose his will? Have we not been told that the purpose of life is to fight against Satan and all his works? How can we ever relax, until that day when he is finally defeated?

To relax is to play into his hands – that’s what he wants, that’s what he wants us to do. He wants us to relax and have fun. The devil finds work for idle hands, isn’t that what they say? Isn’t that what they say? We must be ever wary, we must be ever vigilant against evil. We must keep up the good fight. We have to fight against the devil and all his works.

I felt something stir within me – some little unaccountable movement. Perhaps it is life, I thought – surprising myself with my own thought. Perhaps it is life stirring within me, like the bud of some small plant. And then the next thought – I ought to stamp it out, I ought to resist it. I ought to stamp it out, as befits a man of God. As befits a man of God…