Somehow it’s so easy for me to get sucked into the show Forensic Files. Mike tells me it’s because I’m researching ways to get rid of him if I get tired of him (sorry, he thinks he’s funny).  But these 30-minute episodes are so satisfying. After an unbelievably horrific and seemingly random crime, investigators piece together clues until at last all the evidence points them to the criminal. It feels so good to watch justice prevail and see evil deeds being brought to light and punished. Although it does make you think about how many times in this depraved world sin is covered up and goes unchecked! 

The battle between good and evil has existed since the very first humans when the serpent tempted Eve and she chose evil. John Steinbeck’s East of Eden (part of my summer reading) centers around this reality. “We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil.” 

This battle rages continually in my own heart. And doesn’t it really all boil down to the love of myself vs. the love of God? Daily I am fighting off my own selfish desires. That internal drive to have my own way. The struggle of jealousy. The bitterness of discontent. The fury of anger. The hesitation of doubt. The yearning for worldly pleasure. I, as Steinbeck puts it, am “caught in the net of good and evil.”

In Genesis 4:7, God warns Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” 

How do I rule over the sin that is constantly pursuing me, tempting me, promising me pleasure and fulfillment? This week, jealousy and discontent over a certain situation keep pushing their way into my soul.

Thankfully we can know that good and evil are not two equally matched forces that are present on this earth, battling it out to see who is stronger. God, who by His nature is the essence of goodness, is absolutely supreme and has already shown victory over sin through the resurrection of His Son after his death on the cross. Those of us who have put our faith in Christ have the power of the Holy Spirit to give us the desire to fight against our sin, and also to help us in the fight. Evil will not have dominion over us. Best of all, even though we still struggle with sin, God sees us as righteous. His Son has graciously covered our sin. 

On that day when Christ comes again, it will be like the final episode of Forensic Files – a permanent end to evil. The guilty one will be given the death sentence and we will live in eternal peace in a sinless world.

God, help me to look my sin in the eye and fight it with the power of your Spirit. Thank you that you have already won the battle against evil.