The Avada Kedavra Curse should have killed Harry Potter. Instead, though he was a defenseless one year old, the curse rebounded. All it left on Harry was a lightning-shaped scar.
From then on, Harry was marked. He didn’t find out the reason for his scar until he was 11, when he left for Hogwarts. Over the course of all seven books, we follow Harry’s battles against his mortal enemy—Lord Voldemort.
You, well, don’t get the luxury of waiting until you’re 11. Just like Harry, you have a mark on you. Because Jesus has claimed you, Satan has marked you as his prey, his mortal enemy—for life. In 1 Peter 5:8, God gives you some bad news: “Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion as he looks for someone to devour.”
So now, until you reach heaven, you will face battle after battle with him. Maybe you’re wishing you had an invisibility cloak so you could walk around and your opponent couldn’t see you. You have something way better than a cloak. You have Jesus. When Jesus died on a cross and came alive again, he defeated the devil. At your baptism, you put on his robe of righteousness. That, better than any invisibility cloak, tells Satan—“Back off! This one is mine!”
Chomp on this!
How has Satan prowled around, looking for ways to devour you? What temptations and troubles has he tried to use to get you away from God?
Dear Jesus, thank you for giving me your robe of righteousness. Even though my mortal enemy, Satan, knows I’m yours, he still tries to get me, to hurt me, to pull me away from you. But he can’t have me because you marked me as yours and I am safe forever. Thank you! Amen.
