“The wicked one (Satan) does not touch him” (1 John 5:18 NKJ).

Here is a precious promise assuring you and me of immunity from Satan’s assaults. He cannot touch us. We are covered with a divine protection that wards off direct attack. Unprotected people become victims of a hateful enemy who goes around as a devourer, but in Christ we are protected.

In the Greek this word translated touch is haptomai (hop’- tom-ahee). It gives the picture of a wedge being driven between the believer and his God with the idea of separating him from his divine source or connection. It is also used in what is called the “middle voice.” This means that a person acts on his own for his own purposes.

Though our foe be malicious and hostile, he cannot pick us out as his target and sever us from God. You and I are united to the Lord. We are welded to our God, glued to our Savior. The enemy would like to get the wedge in, but he cannot. That wicked one cannot touch us (Luke 10:19). No one, not even Satan, can sever our relationship with Christ.

Early in life I had a fear of Satan overwhelming me like a flood and sweeping me away from God’s protective care. The Lord helped me by giving me a mental picture of myself in a heavily fortified citadel. Satan was outside screaming threats and vile accusations.

Somehow I felt safe, secure, and peaceful, like a person in a comfortable home by a fireplace while a bad storm rages outside. That is when this verse came to me: “The enemy by his own design cannot attack you or assault you in order to sever you from God’s tender loving care or your peace of trust and rest.”