We are to leave a vacant place for the devil. He is always on the lookout for the empty moment, the unoccupied circumstance, in which he can obtain a foothold and begin his nefariuos work. Our only safety is to fill everything with holy purpose and achievement; to fill it so full of God that there is no room left for the foe.
When we delay the performance of a duty we are giving place to the devil. When we say to the Lord, in answer to His command, "Suffer me first to...." we are offering the unfilled place to the devil. He loves the delays of Christian, their dilatoriness, their reluctance, their postponements and adjournments, because in the vacant hours he builds his own abode. If my brother has aught against me and I delay the rectification of the wrong, the wrong is aggravated and embittered, for the devil has used the delay to extend his evil dominion.
When we do our duty half heartedly we offer the other half as a place for the devil. He loves the half hearted, for they always provide him a home. They offer only a room or two to the Lord, and he takes the rest for himself. So that even our partial consecrations give him a foothold and he uses it to extend his boundaries. A maimed discipleship always offers chances to the devil, and he leaps at the smallest chance. Give him an inch, he will begin his work as though he had a mile, and a mile he will soon have! Give him a empty port, and soon he will have a country. Only let him land, and he will never rest till his invasion is complete.
Break up, oh, break up the font, my God, and stir the soul of me,
As I have seen Thee loose Thy winds and stir the mighty sea.
When calm is settling over my life, and listlessly i strive,
Tear loose the bonds the bind me, Lord, and shake my soul alive.
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