“Not another one,” I muttered under my breath. Lynne asked. “A pop-up ad for a-soon-to-be-released horror movie sequel coming out hit my Facebook feed.”
The first “I Know What You Did Last Summer” movie hit the screens in 1997. A year after running over a fisherman and dumping his body in the water, one of the four friends gets a letter telling them someone witnessed their crime. I think there’s a Scripture for that:
“. . . be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23, ESV)
I had to do a Google search because I never watched the movie, or the sequel one year later, “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.” Then there was “I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer” in 2006. Apparently, it’s time to revisit the mayhem with this yet untitled edition of “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”
I’m not shilling for horror movies, but horror isn’t restricted to the silver screen. Satan, or rather his demonic stooges, knows what you did last summer. They know what you did last week. The enemy can’t read our minds, but he can observe our actions, and he is always willing to remind you of all your failings. Their tactics are fear, shame, and humiliation, and they do their best to keep us cowering in the shadows for fear of our sins finding us out. All too often we are living in our own personal horror movie with an enemy relentless in his condemnation. We have a suicide epidemic in our nation. People find their lives no longer worth living, as there seems to be no escape from failure, fear, and disappointment. Pastor and author, dare I say prophet, A. W. Tozer describes this horror movie we live in.
“For sin has played many evil tricks upon us, and one has been the infusing into us of a false sense of shame. There is hardly a man or woman who dares to be just what he or she is without doctoring up the impression. The fear of being found out gnaws like rodents within their hearts.” [1]
But God also knows what we did last summer or last week or even last night. He understands the burden we carry of sinful past (and present) habits. That is why He sent His Son, Jesus.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10, ESV)
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17, ESV)
Jesus did not come to condemn us, but to deliver us from the crushing burden of Satan’s condemnation. Jesus calls us to rest in Him.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, ESV)
Tozer describes this “rest” Jesus offers.
“The burden borne by mankind is a heavy and a crushing thing. The word Jesus used means ‘a load carried, or toil borne to the point of exhaustion.’ Rest is simply release from that burden. … The rest He offers is the rest of meekness, the blessed relief which comes when we accept ourselves for what we are and cease to pretend. It will take some courage at first, but the needed grace will come as we learn that we are sharing this new and easy yoke with the strong Son of God Himself. He calls it ‘My yoke,’ and He walks at one end while we walk at the other.” [2]
The next time the enemy reminds you with the, “I Know What You Did,” turn to the One Who says,
“I don’t care what you did; My grace covers your sin.”
His yoke is easy, and His burden is light!
Something to consider.
Adapted from Men of Valor Devotional by Ron Helle, 1 February 2025
[1] Tozer, A.W. The Pursuit of God. Project Gutenberg EBook, 2008. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25141/25141-h/25141-h.htm. p. 114.
[2] Ibid. pp. 112, 116.