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1 Peter 5:8 – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (NKJV)
The quiet of early morning was broken suddenly by numerous loud distress calls from robins at the back of our house. The usual calm of their early morning routine — feeding, bathing, and teaching their young — had been disturbed by the arrival of three large crows, and further investigation revealed the cause of the alarm calls: the crows had one of the baby robins! The crows, dark and menacing, determined and much larger than the robins, had destroyed another little innocent one in their quest for domination and appeased appetites, whatever the cost. They must seem to be akin to black devils in the bird world — loud and dangerous.
In today's verse, God gives us a very clear and very strong warning that we should pay attention to His enemy, the devil, at all times. In other passages, He directs us to protect ourselves with His armour each day, to be prepared for the fiery arrows of the devil and his minions. They are trying desperately to distract us from being faithful followers of Christ by presenting us with temptations arising from sinful desires within ourselves and from the urgings of unprincipled people.
God must be as distressed as the robins were, when He loses one of us to sin. It has immense power to draw us into its destructive darkness; it pervades and tears apart innocent hearts and minds, leaving nothing but a few scraps of our former self, our spirit undermined, and our credibility often shattered because we were led astray or abducted by a destructive power, much stronger than ourselves.
Evil is all around us, even within us, and so each day we need to be very aware of our own desires, our surroundings, and the people with whom we come into contact. We need to be on our guard, seeking discernment and wisdom from the Lord, lest we fall prey to destructive temptations.
Prayer: Abba, may we always stay close to You. Protect us from all that is not safe. Help us to submit humbly to Your love and direction and to develop Your discernment and wisdom. We don Your armour willingly, knowing that it will protect us from all that is not of You. Amen.
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