My opposite number knew more about Christianity than... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

How you are fallen from heaven, o Lucifer (day star), son of the morning!
Isaiah 14:12

My opposite number knew more about Christianity than I first imagined. He seemed to have done with the Bible. His brief assessment of it was: a book written by men, unreliable and uncertain. It wasn't worth occupying oneself with it. We started talking, and the ice was broken. My partner asked question after question. Was there really a devil, and what was so bad about him?

The question is not unimportant, for the Bible rejects any doubt about Satan's existence. He is mentioned on the earliest pages. You have surely heard or read of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. It was not an animal but the representative of a powerful being who is finally unmasked in the last book of the Bible: "the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan" (Revelation 20:2). That is clear enough for anyone who wants to know.

My partner wanted to hear more. So we read from the prophet Isaiah. Not that every question is answered there, but more light is shed on that mysterious figure.

A fallen star (Lucifer) is mentioned there, a created being who rose up against God and was then brought down. Although our wise God still permits that princely being to influence mankind, He has nevertheless provided the means for us to be freed from Satan's sinister power. Jesus Christ has conquered the devil, "to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins" (Acts 26:18). Whoever turns to Jesus in faith, can now be made free.

Today's reading: Leviticus 25:1-19 · Psalm 69:29-37