“Stay Alert! Watch Out For Your Enemy, The Devil. He Prowls Around Like A Roaring Lion, Looking For Someone To Devour.” (1Peter 5:8 NLT).
What a sobering and important warning as we take on a new work week. It is not intended to scare and paralyse us. As it is often said, a known problem is half solved. So this warning from the Lord is important because, as part of the plan and scheme of the devil, humans often work and live in extremes. Some live in the perpetual fear of the devil, and spend their whole life binding and casting away the devil; staying away in some holy protection (abe abo); neglecting the productive things that they should be doing; while others live as if the fact of the devil and his demons are for the comic books and movies. Both of these are not only wrong, but have become part of the tactics of the devil, to bring blindness, which stops us from engaging him in the way that defeats him. Therefore, be wise and be alert.
I like to say that the devil does not really roar these days until he has his prey in his clutches. Instead he uses more of subtlety and lay in disguise, which makes it easier for him to pounce on ignorant and presumptuous people unawares. He does not present himself as that monster with horns and tail; otherwise, almost everyone will quickly identify him and run away or take appropriate steps to cage and disarm him. No, he is in all the things that constitute your comfort zone; societal practices and seemingly acceptable norms and systems. The Apostle Peter became a devil a few moments after making the most profound confession of the Christian faith. Therefore the warning to be sober, alert and watch out for the devil is most appropriate in our times of heightened greed; covetousness; materialism; pervasive corruption; and the like, even in the church of God. “All that glitter is not gold”, is still an apposite metaphor.
So, I join the Holy Spirit in encouraging you to heed to this warning; ask Him for discernment; hearing ears; responsive hearts; and the power to overcome the lusts of our time, which come to us as legitimate needs for immediate gratification and fulfilment. Humble yourself before Him and genuinely ask for the help of the Holy Spirit.
Have a blessed, God-centred and victorious week.
Further Reading: Matt.16:23, 16-19; 26; 1Jn.2: 15-17.
