“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:19
Call it funny, cool, popular, meaningless, trivial, insignificant, innocent, or even ignorant, or anything else, but it’s anything but. Try dark, dangerous, ungodly, unholy, evil, and, ultimately, a matter of life, death, and eternal torment in hell and the lake of fire. The message behind it, that is. That’s if you want to know the truth behind one of the latest fads that Satan, the devil, the enemy of all of humanity, is looming, lurking, and slithering stealthily, sickeningly, despicably behind. Oh, how deceitful he is! Oh, how he loves to hide himself with his endless appalling deceit.
The first time I saw the “don’t tread on me” slogan was when I was visiting death row. A slogan posted emphatically on the cell door of one of the inmates. This wasn’t just a random bunch of words. It bore a message. I thought that was the last I would see of it. Not so. The devil does as much as he can get away with. He is getting away with this that I now realize is running rampant. Are people not aware? Or are they aware and buying right into it? What about you?
In the first six weeks I’d been in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area since I’d gone on the road full time for ministry, I started seeing the slogan again. And again. With its accompanying serpent. A telltale sign. Of the message’s evil. Of Satan himself. That sly serpent. I started seeing the slogan and serpent on Virginia license plates. Just outside the nation’s capital. The Bible says Christ’s followers have been given authority in Christ’s name to tread on Satan. To overcome sin and darkness through the Lord. By repenting and following Him. To not spend forever in hell and the lake of fire but to enjoy God’s fellowship now and forever in heaven through repentance and a life committed to Christ. Through Christ.
The seemingly “innocent” slogan signifies the devil trying to assert authority over this world. Telling the world not to tread on him; he wants to reign in Christ’s stead. What happens when we live our lives with our backs turned to the Lord and our hearts and faces turned to sin and Satan? When we lovingly, obediently follow Jesus, we tread on Satan. When we follow our flesh and this world, bowing down to sin and evil, we don’t tread on Satan; we serve him on the highway to death, hell, and the lake of fire forever apart from God. Christ, not Satan, will reign forever. But Satan is working overtime to lure people away from the Lord and to convince them not to tread on him through Christ but to worship Satan instead. Please don’t fall for the devil’s deception. Fall down at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and give your heart and life to Him forever.