Posted on 09/24/2008 9:37:50 AM PDT by colorcountry
Read Acts 20:28-31
I Peter 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
The devil is a roaring lion, deceivers are savage wolves. Lions and wolves – both are carnivores. They both hunt for live prey to eat. To hunt live prey requires the ability to sneak close to it, undetected. No self-respecting deer or sheep (or gazelle, or cow, or zebra for that matter) would go about happily munching the prairie grass if he knew a hungry predator was approaching.
Every time I watch a nature program depicting the age-old struggle between poor, innocent gazelles and mean, old lions, I find myself yelling at the television. For a moment I forget that the hunted on the screen in front of me do not have the benefit of the camera angle from which I view. I try and try to warn them that the hunter is coming ridiculously close and that within minutes they’ll be nothing more than a pile of bones for the vultures. But do they listen? Nope. They go right on munching. That is, unless they are warned by some other means; the lion gets careless and they notice the tall grass moving, or the wind shifts and they catch his scent, or a nearby bird squawks an announcement.
Peter and Paul did much more than yell at a TV screen. Paul admonished early believers for 3 years to watch out for trouble – false teachers (Acts 20:31). Peter wrote a vivid description of our real adversary, the devil (I Peter 5:8).
Both apostles compared these dangers to animals which, though ferocious and powerful, are incredibly stealthy. Both authors gave the same advice on how to avoid falling prey to these evils: be alert and sober.
In the Christian life, spiritual danger does not usually present itself openly. It prowls. It slinks. It hunts. Our defense is constant vigilance.
Debate of any kind is not appropriate on a devotional thread. They are closed, i.e. to be treated as if they are occurring behind the closed doors of a church. -Religion Moderator
Previous Devotionals in this series
Day 3 – Who Cares About Truth?
Day 6 - A God by Any Other Name…
Day 11 – “But, I Didn’t Know…”
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