The Battle of Enchantment
An enchanted world makes us think of a land of talking animals or fairies. Where the lighting almost glows and normal humans are anything but normal. Man’s abilities heightened, and talk seems to invariably reverberate into song. Something about the enchanted world pulls us in as reality bends and the impossible, becomes possible. But when the lines of entertainment and reality blur, our hearts and minds begin to be taken captive by falsehood.
It did not begin with falsehood. In the beginning, the void and dark world was formed and created to perfection into an expanse of waters and land, vegetation, plants and trees with creatures that swarmed in the waters and animals who crawled over the lands. Our best imagination of this captivating Eden must pale in comparison with what Adam and Eve experienced themselves. But instead of living happily ever after, Adam and Eve became enchanted by a false story, a false reality, twisting God’s original order and design.
To be enchanted by God’s beauty and His handywork is good and an act of worship, but sin has changed this forever. We too often become enchanted away from God’s truth and thus, deceived, and in awe of death and destruction packaged as fairy dust and wonder. You see, an enchantment seeks not the intellect at first pass but overcomes the mind through emotion and feeling. Enchantment is one of Satan’s crafty tactics in which to lure our hearts and minds away from truth, away from God Himself. Eve was captivated by the illusion of enlightenment and freedom through Satan’s cunning performance. She devoured the lie and stepped into a false reality which had dire consequences for herself and all of mankind after her. We too become disillusioned to what we perceive as reality and become swept up by a false hope or sweet whisper earnestly seeking to deceive the heart.
Our response to this brokenness is to reenchant ourselves to God and guard our hearts against the world’s deception. The act of guarding our hearts becomes a necessary and crucial response as culture seeks to draw us into its glamour. The poison of relative truth clothed in a juicy apple. Everyone can craft their own reality, just take one bite… How do we defend against this? First, with God’s own Spirit. The creator God invites us into relationship with Himself and girds us with His Spirit. Pursuing God and seeking to know and understand His truth through His Word become both weapon and shield. Grounded by reality, emotions can be checked so that heart and mind are not lead astray.
Our ability to be resolute is found only in the honest pursuit of God’s heart. When culture woos us to be captivated by anything other than God, we must caution our heart and with both heart and mind, seek to learn more of the goodness and beauty of the Lord. Step through the wardrobe and see the wonder of God.