Suppose an angel were to ask you: “Why should you be allowed into heaven?” and you said, “Because I believe Jesus is the Son of God.” Their obvious response would be, “Well, so do the demons. How is your faith any different from theirs?”

Even more surprising than what demons believe is their obedience to Jesus: “Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, ‘You are the Son of God.’ And he strictly ordered them not to make him known” (3:11-12).

These demons are under Jesus’ authority. They confess Him and they have to obey Him. This hits pretty close to home. In his book, Family Driven Faith, Voddie Baucham reports: “70 to 88 per cent of Christian teens are leaving the church by their second year in university.”

Why would 80 per cent of young people raised in church leave when they go to university? Could it be that these young people obey because they have to, and when the constraint of family is taken away, the true state of their hearts is revealed? Freedom reveals who you really are.

The Lord said to Isaiah “This people draw near with their mouth and honour me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me” (Isa. 29:13). That’s the natural condition of religious people. Unless God changes your heart, you will remain a confessing rebel, conforming when you must, but indulging your rebellion when you can.

Come to Christ today and say, “Lord, save me from the treason in my own heart. Don’t allow me to confess to you while continuing in rebellion against you.”