“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
I Peter 5:8 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/1pe.5.8.NKJV
Stay Alert
Have you ever let your guard down when you shouldn’t have?
Maybe you got lazy. Maybe you got distracted. Maybe you cared too much about someone else’s opinions. Maybe you got tired of standing your ground.
Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, would understand. He left everything to follow Jesus. He loved, trusted, and believed in Jesus. But when being associated with Jesus threatened His own security and reputation, Peter denied Him—three times.
Thankfully, Jesus forgave him, restored him, and even empowered him to preach at Pentecost—the day that 3,000 people were baptized and the early church began.
It was that Peter who wrote:
“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.”
1 Peter 5:8-9 NLT
If we’re going to resist the enemy, we must stay on both the offensive and defensive.
The Offensive: Stay alert. Stand firm. Be strong. Read God’s Word. Seek God-centered community. Fight for time and connection with God. Remind yourself that there are others fighting this battle with you.
The Defensive: If someone is twisting the truth, call it out. If you notice an injustice, do something to help. If your enemy the devil is wreaking havoc, have the courage to fight for good.
For the times that you’ve already let your guard down, don’t allow yourself to stay stuck in guilt or shame. We’ve all had moments where we’ve slipped. Ask for forgiveness and keep moving forward.
What did Jesus do after He was raised back to life? He found Peter. In fact, he cooked breakfast on the beach for Peter! He gave Peter another chance, and even established him as a leader.
So stay alert. And remember: God is also fighting for you.
Share your faith: If we don’t know the truth, we will fall for the enemy’s lies.
Share your faith: Fight to stay alert by starting a Bible plan with friends today. We are stronger together.
Prayer: God, I want to live my life for You, but I need Your help to stay alert throughout the day. Help me to be aware of the enemy’s schemes, and also of Your presence and promptings. Help me to discern what is from You and what is not, so that I can glorify You in all that I do. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Note after sharing the devotional: If I’m honest, gathering the strength to “not allow bad things to affect me” has been a gargantuan and sometimes impossible task. I got knocked down very early and very often, yes, even before I learned how to use and move around my arms and legs as an infant. My mom has told me that, although I was born quite underweight, about 2-3 months in (I’m completely guessing as to this part of the timeline; I could very well have been only a few weeks old) I suddenly gained weight, to the point of being almost normal for my age at the time. But the weight gain was so drastic that I wasn’t able to adjust to it, at least not for a little while. My mom has described me as being frustrated and giving up on being able to use my mind to figure out how to move my arms and legs to adjust my now-much-heavier body (I believe she is telling the truth about this!).
And that was just the tip of the iceberg. The reason I was quite underweight at birth is because I was born a month early. The reason I was born a month early was due to stress my mom was carrying while I was developing. And I’ll stop there. If I continue the cycle of “the reason was...” any further, we start getting into the territory of different types of sins and family histories and cycles, and out of respect for my parents, my grandparents, etc., I won’t be getting into that.
When I was 26 and roughly the same age my parents were when I was first created, I was going through round after round of spiritual attacks, and I remember writing down and declaring: “I am a war zone.” I knew it was a true statement, but even then I clearly didn’t understand how true it truly was! Plus, people I know and have been close with have gone through attacks, including my wife at different times, and more recently one of my best friends had been through a particularly bad spiritual attack. This brings us back to 1 Peter 5:8: “because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” But the Bible gives us clear instructions across several different points, starting with the very next verse (1 Peter 5:9):
“Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”
Elsewhere, it also states:
“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7B
But one key piece to this all working is being surrendered to God:
“Therefore submit to God.” James 4:7A
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant;” 1 Peter 5:6-8A
Finally, sometimes the attacks aren’t external but internal. And God’s Word has instructions for those battles as well:
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Philippians 4:8
I'll close this post with a brief plug: a book a friend lent me back when I was 26 years old was “The Bondage Breaker” by Neil T. Anderson. It was a powerful and life-changing book, through which I first came across the verse from 2 Corinthians 10 about taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. It was an early example of my trying to apply a piece of Scripture to my life. It took about six months of me repeating that part of the verse to myself but it did work. Scripture works. Praise God!