“Be watchful! Your advisory the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith.” (1Pet. 5:8, 9) I’m sure Peter’s denial of his Lord was in mind as he penned this word of warning. Jesus had told him that Satan himself was going to try and violently shake him so as to destroy his faith. Peter, years later, when writing about the snares and traps of the devil says, “Listen to me, Satan is like a lion seeking to destroy the every souls of believers. So be careful!”
This admonition to be “Careful”, or as we find it in our text “watchful”, can never be underestimated. Is it not our carelessness that causes us to be enticed by the fiery darts of our soul’s enemy?
Far too often I’m afraid, we find ourselves not thinking or believing that we could be overcome by Satan’s devices. But it is this very lack of consideration or inattention to the reality that Satan is a vigorous enemy, whose goal is the extinction of our faith, that causes us to fall. Be Watchful! says Peter, for you are Satan’s prey! He is hunting you down, to kill your soul.
So be alert, dear reader, awake from your sleep. Do not be drowsy in your night-watch. Do not be unreasonable in your thinking; Satan continues to go about like a roaring lion, with great skill, and using every opportunity to snuff the light of your soul out.
Father, I’ve had enough of living a drowsy Christian life. Wake me up from my stupor. Protect me from the three enemies of my soul; the world, my own self, and the devil. And cause me to be firm in my faith, for your name’s sake.
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