The devil’s soup bowl

When [the devil] speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. – John 8:44

While my sons-in-law and I were hiking in a state park last summer, we noticed a trail marker that pointed toward something called The Devil’s Soup Bowl. Intrigued, we took off for this geologic formation. As we went, we joked about the kind of soup we might find in the bowl.

When we arrived, we discovered it to be a large sunken area of land – something like a deep lake without any water in it. We were rather disappointed to discover that The Devil’s Soup Bowl was filled with nothing but trees and weeds.

The Devil’s Soup Bowl is the perfect name for a formation that offers something of interest but ends up providing nothing, because the devil is a deceiver. His menu is a bowl of tricks that delivers only empty promises and broken dreams.

Satan began his deceitful work of substituting nothing for something when he tricked Eve in the Garden of Eden, and he has not changed his plan. He tried his deceit on Jesus, but the Lord resisted and "the devil left Him" (Matthew 4:9-11).

So how do you know if you are being offered one of Satan’s lies? Test new ideas with Scripture. Consult with people you trust to be godly and wise. And pray.

Don’t fall for the devil’s bowl of empty lies. – Dave Branon

Satan’s a liar, deceiving all men,
Subtly he causes their fall into sin;
But his sly methods we surely can know,
Looking to Jesus wherever we go. – D. De Haan

READ: Matthew 4:1-11

Satan offers nothing but tricks and deceit.