By Kelly Cilano

Devil Went Down to Georgia is a popular song by the Charlie Daniels Band.

You may smile as you recall the devil’s challenge to Johnny the fiddler: I’ll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul ’cause I think I’m better than you.

Now of course Johnny won his gold fiddle in that song and all was right with the world.

But double-check those lyrics and you’ll see he didn’t lose his soul… because it was already lost.

Too often we think we are in control.

The world tells us we are responsible for the choices that we make; that we determine our destiny; that it’s our body and we have a right to whatever it is, and so on and so on and so on.  Yet the older I get (no comments here, please!) the more I realize that I can think the situation through, prepare properly and dress for success, and still find myself in situations that surprise me, befuddle me, and catch me unaware.

In fact, if I think I’ve got all my ducks in a row it makes me nervous, because I’m usually a great target, and an easy shot for the pickins! At least when there is a little chaos, I’m not so quick to get blown out of the water.

Distractions make for very good diversions. It is interesting how much the master of diversion the devil really is.

While we think we have everything under control, the truth is that in ourselves we have very little. We often focus on the unimportant, while the devil is focused on what’s really important, and that is the worth of the soul.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:36: “Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.” The point is we don’t know what is really under our control and what is not, but Jesus does. 

Diversion is the devil’s game point. Look how he tempted Jesus.  First he caught Him at one of His lowest points physically, which is trademark timing for the devil to move in.

He was fasting, and weak doesn’t begin to describe what happens over forty days of it.

Next, Jesus was tested in the area of His obedience. Can’t you hear just Satan saying: “Look: You don’t have to  do this whole thing God’s way; I own the world and it is within my power to give it to You. The cross isn’t really necessary – all that blood and suffering! – Why bother when there is an easier way?”

And as if that wasn’t enough, the third temptation dealt with questioning God and who He is.

By taking Jesus up to the highest point of the temple and daring Him to test God, Satan tried to cause Jesus to question His Father’s faithfulness.

We may often do that ourselves when we are down, things are going wrong, and it seems like there is no answer in sight. Yet God isn’t unfaithful. He’s there all the time, but we often get distracted by bad circumstances that keep us from seeing God’s hand in them.

Even in death, God still is faithful. Distractions, diversions and temptations are all strategies to move our eyes away from God and onto ourselves.

Yet Jesus didn’t get distracted from His priorities. He saw those temptations for what they were: distractions that were meant to divert Him from the Father’s purpose.

That is why Jesus had to die on the Cross.  He knew the incredible worth of the soul of man – after all, He did create him!

He also knew that we could never save ourselves, no matter what bargain Satan offered.

In that catchy song, Johnny was distracted by the golden fiddle, which he did in fact win.

But his soul? No mention of that. It was still lost.

And isn’t that just like the devil to leave you thinking you’ve won when you’re really still lost? 

Johnny didn’t get his soul back because he, like everyone, was born in sin. So he was in Satan’s camp already.

And of course the devil never does keep his bargains, anyway. Just ask Adam and Eve.

The devil has always lied about everything, including the state of your soul.

We are dead in our sins and trespasses, it tells us in Ephesians 2:1. We are born dead and hell- bound, and until we accept the work that Jesus did on the Cross, repent of our sin and ask Him to make us new again, we have no bargaining point.

The truth is we never did and we never will, outside of Jesus.