“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters. When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first."

Many years ago, some evil people came into my family’s home and destroyed it. They threw food all over the house, plugged the sinks and let them run over, broke the blades of ceiling fans and so much more. Just a lock on the door protected my home. I turned the key, locked the door, and left for an overnight trip. I was gone less then twenty-four hours. I was unable to protect the house at all times.

Now I have an alarm. The next time the mean people kicked my door in, they ran, or at least they did not come in long enough to take or destroy anything. I was prepared. I had studied and found an agency that was always on call that could watch over my home. The loud noise sounded; the police were called; my home was protected.

Listen to what Luke is telling us. Your soul is your house. Your alarm comes from reading and studying the word of God. When God dwells in your house, you are protected at all times. We are to stay strong in our relationship with God. We are to remain in His word because, if we do not, then there will one day be someone stronger than us to overtake us and dirty our clean house. Our clean lives will no longer be clean. It is like not setting the alarm.

Do you need a reason to pray and study? This is just one of many you will find in God’s word.