Who's life is this anyway...

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
—2 Corinthians 11:3

So satan finds a way to steal your joy on every occassion that should add to it. This was proven to me this weekend after my baptism. I was and am on fire for God and was and am PUMPED to give my life to Him in the form of batism. I stepped down in that water and felt a cleansing like no other come over me, fill me, and cosume me. I have never felt as clean, holy, and proud as I did on Easter Sunday.

But that slowly changed...
You see satan saw my pure joy and was angry enough to try to take it away. He used the people closest to me as he usually does to make me feel as though the act of baptism was in some way a billboard that I was now perfect. I have given my life to God but that doesn't mean that I'm not a sinner or that I don't do sometimes stupid things. What it does mean is that I know that this life I am living isn't mine. This life is my God's life. He is using me for some purpose to do what he sees fit with me. While God has his clutches on me, satan is steadily trying to push me back down to my breaking point so that I will give up and say that I am already a sinner so sinning is acceptable.

I am not in this life to please others nor am I here to listen to their infinite wisdom regarding what my life should consist of. I am here to please my God who know that I am a mistake-maker, a false representation of His perfect vision of me but who loves me unconditionally despite my shortcomings. It is His life that I live imperfectly to perfection because He knows the desires of my heart and the strength of satan.

So when God has you on fire and ready to shout to the world that you are His, watch out for the vices satan uses to pull you back down (and he will). And remember that God has already written the novel of your life. He knows the error of your ways and the goodness of your heart, and yet still He loves us so much for living His live and fulfilling the purpose we play in his master plan.