Artwork by Daniel Venturo
Once, there were two kings and two kingdoms. The first king was good. His kingdom was good too; his people loved him, and he loved his people. The other king was not good. His kingdom was full of darkness and evil. He hated goodness and light, and so he hated the good king and his kingdom. This king wanted to conquer the good kingdom. He wanted to make it as dark and evil as his own so that he could be the king of both kingdoms. The evil king had a huge army. Time and again he tried to take over the good kingdom with his powerful army. But he just could not do it! The people of the good kingdom knew how to fight and defend their home. The evil king tried strategy after brilliant strategy, but still, he could not find a way to get the better of the good king and his kingdom!
The evil king called together all his dark council. “Good sirs,” he said to them. “How are we going to take over my enemy’s kingdom?”
One suggested this and another that, but after each proposal, the king shook his head. “That won’t work. We already tried that.”
Finally, a tall thin man in dark clothing who had been sitting quietly in a corner stood up. “My king,” he said, bowing. “I will tell you how we may subdue your enemy’s kingdom.”
“Tell on, good sir,” replied the king.
The man bowed again, then looked around at all the council, a sinister smile just showing on his face behind his dark hood. “My king,” he said at last. “Is it not true that we have directed all of our attacks thus far upon the outside of the kingdom? We have tried cannons, chariots, battering rams—all kinds of brilliant machines, but we always laid siege to the outside of the castle. This, my friends, will not work. The castle’s defenses are too strong. The people are expecting us to come in that way. No, we will have to try something entirely different this time.” He paused and looked at the king.
The king frowned back at him thoughtfully. Then an evil smile began to stretch across his face as he began to understand. “I think I’m beginning to catch your meaning,” he said slowly.
The man smiled. “What I mean is that, if we’re going to conquer our enemy’s kingdom, we’re going to have to get at them from the inside.”
“From the inside out,” the king said, nodding. “I like that. But how, friend, may we accomplish this?”
The tall man smiled again. “Leave that to me, my king. I already have a wonderful idea.”
By the time the tall dark man had finished explaining his plan, everyone in the council-room was chuckling maliciously . . .
One morning several days later, everyone who belonged to the good kingdom woke up to discover something unusual in their capital city. A great stage was set up in the square. On the stage was a wide wooden wall, and in this wall was a window. The window was so large, you could see it all over the town. Thousands of people crowded around to see this strange window.
It was not an ordinary window—if you looked through it, you would not see the bustling town square behind it. No, this was a magical window. If you looked into it, it would show you all kinds of different things. It showed grown-ups working, children playing, fascinating animals, cool machines—anything you might be interested in, that window would show you.
People from all over the kingdom marveled at this strange and wonderful window. People from every city flocked to see all the fascinating people and animals that played in its mysterious depths.
But what the people of the good kingdom did not know was that this magical window belonged to the evil king, and that he had placed it there. The strange structure was actually a window into the evil kingdom. It showed the people of the good kingdom everything that went on in the evil kingdom. It showed what life was like there.
Some of the things that went on in the evil kingdom were not necessarily bad. The people of the good kingdom thought these things were okay to look at. But the more they saw through that window, the more they wanted to live like the people they were seeing. Instead of thinking about living like the good king wanted them to, they tried to be like the people of the other kingdom. They wanted to look like those people, act like those people, and have the things those people had, because they thought this was the right way to look and act, and that these were the things they were supposed to have.
Sometimes, the people in the window did bad things. Even if you tried to look at only the good things, the evil king had placed so many evil things throughout that window, that you just couldn’t help seeing them. But people still came to see. You see, such was the magic of this window, that if ever once you looked into it, it would make you want to keep on looking and looking at it. The more you looked, the more it drew you, until you could hardly help looking at it at all.
And so the window taught people how to live like the evil king and his people. The people in the good kingdom were so captivated with the enchanting window, that, without even realizing it, they began to live like the people they were seeing in the glass! You see, they were trying so hard to be like the people in the window that they began to become subjects of the evil kingdom themselves! They no longer listened to their own good king, who had already taught them how they ought to live.
The evil king and his dark council watched all this gleefully. The scheme was working better than they had imagined. Soon, they could just come right in and rule the good kingdom.
The trouble with the people in the good kingdom was that they were not guarding their hearts from their enemy. For weeks now I’ve been reminding you that we have an enemy just like the evil king in this story. He is the devil, of course. I’ve also been reminding you about the spiritual armor God has given us to protect us from the devil. The first piece of armor I told you about was the belt of truth that keeps us on course. The next piece of armor is called the breastplate of righteousness (Eph. 6:14). A breastplate protects your heart. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
If your heart is right, your actions will be right too. But if your heart is evil, everything you do will be evil as well. That is why it is so important to guard your heart, not filling it with evil thoughts.
Now, everyone is born with an evil heart (Jer. 17:9). But because of what Jesus did for you on the cross, He can change your heart and fill you with His righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). You must not let any evil into your heart anymore—you must keep your heart clean and righteous as He has commanded you (1 Jn. 5:18). You must be so careful not to take even the tiniest peep at a bad sign. You should never watch a movie with your friends unless you know it is good.
And, of course, there is the TV. Just like the Window of Evil, TVs, as well as computers, phones, and tablets, show you what it is like to live in the world. Many people on TV do bad things. It is impossible not to see those bad things.
But sometimes, people on TV do things that are not bad, or even that are good! The trouble is, the more you watch the world, the more you want to be like the world. You want to look like the people on TV, act like them, and have what they have. You become discontent with the things God has given you and the way He has made you. You stop thinking about how God wants you to live and think that you have to live like the world. But you can’t be friends of God and of the world, because they are opposites (Jas. 4:4).
So beware of the TV! If you let your guard down and allow even a tiny bit of evil into your heart, the devil, your enemy, has a foothold. He can get you to sin. He wants to destroy you, just like the evil king was hoping to come in and conquer the people of the good kingdom.
This was what the evil king was hoping to do. But as it turned out, he didn’t get to do it.
It was all because of a little boy who was only about ten years old. He lived with his family in the good kingdom, and just like all the other people in the kingdom, he went out every day to see what there was to see in the great and wonderful window in the square.
One day, this little boy was playing and exploring in some old castle ruins near the square. The ruins were full of crumbly stone, dust, and cobwebs—no one had been there for a long time. But the boy, like most of you I’m sure, thought the castle ruins were a wonderful place to explore and pretend in.
On this particular day, the boy was exploring a part of the castle he had never been to before. He found an old creaky passageway that led to a winding flight of stone stairs. He climbed up these steps, up and up, until he came to a wooden door. The door was not locked; he pushed it open and came to a small room, dark and coated in thick layers of dust. The room was filled with all kinds of interesting and exciting things—old swords, rusty helmets, dusty furniture. On a table in the corner, there was a big musty book, ages old, covered with dust and full of yellow pages. The boy had always liked books—he took this one down and began to read . . .
The boy was shocked by the things he read. He was used to doing things like the people in the magical window. But this book was telling him to live entirely differently! But which was right? The magical window, or the old book? Then the boy came across these words: “Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him’” (Prov. 30:5).
Now the boy knew that that book was filled with truth, because the good king, who was truth himself, had given it to his people, to teach them how to have life.
The boy kept reading that book all day. When evening came, he stood up. He knew now that that magical window was evil. The evil king had put it there to trick everyone. And he also knew that the evil king must be stopped.
The boy looked around. On the table, there was a sword. This sword was labeled Truth. He picked up the sword. It felt good in his hand. Then he went out.
That night, nearly all the people in the kingdom were gathered around the great window. Suddenly, a young boy appeared on the stage. He had a thick book under his arm and a sword in his hand.
“Hey, watch out!” someone yelled. “You’re blocking the screen!”
But the boy didn’t move. He was trembling with rage. He was furious that the evil king would try to deceive them in this way. He was furious that they had been deceived and had nearly turned away from their good king who loved them so much. And this fiery rage drove him to action. With a mighty shout, the boy drew back his arm and plunged his sword, the Truth, right into the middle of the window.
There was a blinding, flashing light. There was a terrible shrieking wail and then a mighty sound of shattering glass. For five whole minutes, the great crashing ruckus continued. Then all was silent. The people held their breaths and looked. There was the boy, standing in the square and holding his sword aloft. But the great magical window was gone!
At first, the people were furious. “What have you done!?” they shouted. “You took it away! You ruined it!”
But the boy held up his hands for quiet. “Be quiet, all of you! I want to read you something!”
The boy began to read from the book under his arm.
The people listened. There was not a sound in the whole town as the boy read and the people listened to him. They learned that the window was a deadly evil, placed there by their greatest enemy. They learned that they had been tricked. But they also learned that the good king still loved them. He would teach them how to be wise and how to stay away from their enemy. They just had to read his Word.
In the same way, we need to protect our hearts by reading God’s Word, the Bible. Turn off the TV and read your Bible every day. Ask God to protect your heart from the devil. You know about the belt of truth. Now strap on the breastplate of righteousness, over your heart!
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Used by permission. All rights reserved.