by A quiet conditioning is taking place. Recently I watched with interest clips of Kenyans running to get a piece of the action on the World Coin cryptocurrency.
On one hand, I deeply understand the need for a few coins in the pocket in this harsh economy. In fact the Ksh7,000 or so was more than a windfall for the many who lined up for hours to get their irises scanned by funny looking black orbs. That was money enough for many meals.
But the whole situation also reminded me of a cliché I learnt long ago on human psychology – that everyone has a price. Most of those who lined up were either ignorant of or did not care about the data they had just given in order to have some coins deposited in their digital wallets. All they cared about was the money.
Though I have read a bit on the founder Sam Altman and the coin and it seems legitimate for now, I must admit that I am overly cautious on things digital.
Amidst all the hoopla, there were of course the cries of ‘end times ‘ and ‘the antichrist ‘, with some issuing dire warnings to the partakers of the World Coin that they had somehow inadvertently been marked with 666 without their knowledge.
First of all, I believe Scriptures indicate that the Mark of the Beast will not be forcibly given but will be a choice. Of course the consequences of refusal will be death, but it will be a choice nonetheless and not some mindless or zombified process. The choice is crucial because those who choose God at that time will be saved.
It is essential to be aware of these things so that we are not paralyzed by fear of what is to come, the result of which has led to the flourishing of fatal cults and many Christians increasingly isolating themselves from the world. This is the season which, in Prophet Isaiah’s words, darkness is over the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples. But if we allow God, His glory will shine brightly through us and pierce the darkness, allowing others to see and come to Christ.
It is essential to be aware of these things so that we are not paralyzed by fear of what is to come, the result of which has led to the flourishing of fatal cults and many Christians increasingly isolating themselves from the world.
While I strongly believe that the day of Jacob’s trouble is not yet upon us, I also strongly believe that these and many other events are a precursor of what is to come. The stage is being set for the acceptance of the antichrist, with a cunningness that can only underscore a thorough knowledge of the condition of the human heart.
The only being who stands to gain from the fallen condition of the human heart is Satan.
Human governments are failing horribly, economic systems are collapsing and religion is more fundamentalist every day. We are more than ready for a savior who will unite the world’s peoples and bring real solutions.
While reading about the founder of World Coin and his seemingly genuine altruistic motives I thought to myself, ‘How interesting indeed! Here is a man who wants to provide a universal minimum wage for the eight billion-plus people on this planet and is actually doing something about it! What if we had just a few other leaders like him in the world?’
To tell you the truth, I don’t think I would have been averse to having my own iris scanned, had there been at a location near me.
World savior?
Does it not make sense, having the means and actually helping people? Of course it does. In fact, if you have any reservations, you seem a little off, a killjoy even.
By the time we have the Mark of the Beast as the only option to living a ‘normal’ life, it will be so reasonable that those who are killed for rejecting it will be the ‘bad ones’. The world population will be relieved to have a savior who will seemingly accomplish the unimaginable, bringing world peace and the hope of real solutions to a distraught society. You can imagine opposing such a figure!
There are people who will willingly participate in the slaughter of their own ‘crazy, selfish, backward, even dangerous’ family members for the sake of progress. At that time it will make sense.
And even when the Antichrist demands to be worshipped, it will be difficult to begrudge him of his desire; why would you? After all, God has long forgotten us – and here is a man who is offering what we have desperately longed for. The enemy’s conditioning will have done its magic, misleading many into eternal damnation.
The World Coin fiasco in Kenya is one of those overt happenings that jolts the believer to wakefulness and watchfulness. However, I am more concerned about the more subtle methods that the enemy uses to condition us and draw us to conform to the patterns of this world on a daily basis.
The World Coin fiasco in Kenya is one of those overt happenings that jolts the believer to wakefulness and watchfulness.
Once we agree with the world we become prayerless and powerless, unmoved by sin and suffering. We also become trapped by the worries of the world, trying to figure it out on our own. If the enemy manages to bind us in this corner, we become useless to the Kingdom of God, which is just fine by Him.
So I urge you dear brother and sister as I urge myself to be watchful of the way the enemy tries to condition us every day so that we move away from God and accept Satan’s deceit.
Maybe you ask, how?
I can think of a few ways I have learnt from my own experience – ignoring regular prayer and time in the Word, operating as a lone ranger, becoming desensitized to violence, sexuality and nudity on social media, adopting and living by popular but ungodly lifestyle maxims and trends, compromising to appease family or friends…
Maybe you have also experienced other ways in which the enemy pulls you to compromise. It is an insistent pulling that will have you bound if you give in to it regularly.
The enemy knows which area of your life he can use to condition you to bondage and powerlessness.
What do you do? For me, I follow what God says in His Word: I live a life of repentance for covering up sin does me no good; I ask for the help of the Holy Spirit in my journey of faith; I resist the devil and also flee from sin; I pray without ceasing and fellowship with God through the Word and fellowship with other believers.
All that Scripture instructs us to do is actionable and not theoretical. It is an active and offensive strategy with the help of the Holy Spirit.
The enemy does not sit and wait passively for people to be deceived; he is at work, clothing sin in new and interesting ways to trap his captives, to condition them to ‘normalcy’. And he is not timid about it; he goes about it in a loud and roaring fashion. Likewise but even more powerfully, victoriously and eternally, the Kingdom of God doesn’t consist in talk but power! May the Holy Spirit renew our minds to take hold of and live in this truth.
( Scripture references- Revelations 13-14, Isaiah 60:1-2, John 1:5, Jeremiah 30:7, Luke 21:29-36, 1 John 1:8-10, John 14:26, James 4:7, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22, Hebrews 4:12, 10:25, 1 Peter 5:8-9, Revelations 5:5, 1 Corinthians 4:20, Romans 12:1-2)
