Dancing with the Devil on Your Back

Spiritual Advantage with Sam Stone

“Lord of the Dance” is one of my favorite hymns; I am sure many of you love this song too. One of the verses says, “It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back.” That’s where I got the title for this message. If you imagine life as a dance, the image of dancing with the devil on your back sounds heart-wrenching.

We all know life is not a bed of roses but more like a mixture of roses and thorns. But you can still make the most out of life if you know how to smell the roses without touching the thorns. Life can be very joyful if you know how to dance with the devil on your back.

In fact, the devil on your back may not be the devil. That reminds me of a story of the Desert Fathers that goes like this:

Going to town one day to sell some of his handicrafts, Abba Agathon (a Desert Father) met a crippled man on the roadside, paralyzed in his legs, who asked him where he was going. (By the way, this is a different story from what I told you in my message two weeks ago.)

Agathon replied, “I am going to town to sell some of my crafts.” The paralyzed man said, “Do me the favor of carrying me there.” So he carried him to town. The man told him, “Put me down where you sell your items.” He did so.

When he had sold an article, the man asked, “What did you sell it for?” and he told him the price. The crippled man said, “Buy me a cake,” and Abba Agathon bought it for him. When Agathon had sold a second article, the sick man asked, “How much did you sell it for?” and he told him the price of it. Then the paralyzed man said, “Buy me this,” and he bought it.

Having sold all his items, Agathon was ready to leave. The man said, “Are you going back?” and Agathon replied, “Yes.” Then the man said, “Do me the favor of carrying me back to the place where you found me.” Once more, he picked him up and returned to that place.

Then the disabled man said, “Agathon, you are filled with divine blessings, in heaven and on earth.” Raising his eyes, Agathon saw no man; it was an angel of the Lord. (End of story).

This story humbles me and makes me reflect on my spiritual status—the fruit of the spirit I have. Abba Agathon personified a fruitful life. His love and patience are admirable. He didn’t question whether the man was worth carrying. He didn’t feel taken advantage of when the man kept asking him to buy things for him with his hard-earned money. I doubt I have that level of patience, kindness, generosity, gentleness, and self-control. Stories like this make me strive for a more fruitful life.

Until the end of the story, we feel Abba Agathon had the devil on his back, but the story surprised us when it revealed that he entertained an angel. What if Agathon stopped fulfilling the man’s request at some point? (This story contrasts with the one I have told you previously, in which the hermit lost his patience to help the old man who asked him to carry him to town.)

We live in a fallen world and have to deal with fallen people. How do we know whether we are being taken advantage of or entertaining angles? How do we know we are dancing with the devil on our back or an angel on our back? How do we know whether God is testing us or the devil is abusing us?

The good news is Jesus came on earth and showed us how to dance with the devil on our backs and still make a difference in this fallen world. Today, we will explore this subject based on Jesus’ Parable of the Weeds.

Can we take the devil off our backs? If not, how do we enjoy life to the fullest despite the devil on our backs? Let’s begin!