CALL IT AN ATTEMPT AT IDENTITY THEFT. The effort to separate God's children from the very source of their existence: Him. This fraud is the modus operandi of evil for, despite the many forms it takes, underlying each of evil's temptations is the fundamental lie that God and Her creation could ever be divided. The Bible offers many illustrations of this, and it provides sound wisdom on the best way to defeat such efforts—by countering the false claims of evil with the truth about one's spiritual identity.
Take two seemingly unrelated examples—the introduction to the book of Psalms and gospel accounts of the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Both shed light on the nature of evil's temptations and how to guard against its attempts at identity theft.
The Psalter wastes no time in getting to the point. In fact, the opening lyrics of the first Psalm even skip a step, apparently assuming that the reader is already familiar with the worldly argument that happiness and prosperity can be achieved through ungodlike behavior. The Psalmist begins by challenging that belief, urging his audience to reject the suggestion that success can be attained through separation from God.
