By Subtilty

Matthew 26:4, "And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtility, and kill him."

As I was pondering this verse, I realized that this is the way that Satan works most often. I was thinking about the Gadianton robbers in the Book of Mormon and how he just whispered and convinced one person, and then that person convinced others. And Satan still works this way in the Latter-days. For example, I was thinking about Obama being elected president and how those who oppose hom solely based on race, are subtly attacking other blacks just to show how much they hate Obama.

I realized that Satan does not like to strike out in the open, especially not at first, because then no one will listen to him. For faithful Latter-day Saints especially, if Satan tried to convince us to commit adultry, we would blantantly refuse him, but when he strikes at our thoughts first, we tend to fall into sin.

That got me to thinking about how to stop Satan. I believe that one of the most important ways to stop him is recognize how he will attack us, and according to this verse, he will strike subtly first. Because of that we must "jealously guard our thoughts". I don't know how many of you have read "The Host" by Stephanie Meyer, but I believe that many of the things she described in that book are so true of human nature...it is our thoughts that really dictate who we are and how we are going to act. It is impossible to think one way and act sincerely another way for very long and eventually our thoughts will will out and dictate our actions.

Breanna Plooster