Saying of the Desert Christians: Becoming a Disciple 2

from: http://www.cin.org/dsrtft5.html

At first Abba Ammoe said to Abba Isaiah, "What do you think of me?" He said to him, "You are an angel, father." Later on he said to him, "And now, what do you think of me?" He replied, "You are like Satan. Even when you say a good word to me, it is like steel."

Some thoughts:

This Saying puzzled me for a long time. How could the same person be an angel and then become Satan? Then it occurred to me that maybe Ammoe asked this question much too often. Or that Ammoe looked to Isaiah for validation rather than to the Lord. Perhaps Ammoe was too concerned about how others viewed him. Perhaps what Isaiah meant is that Ammoe should be more concerned with what God thought of him.