1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
Have you ever watched a nature show about lions, particularly when it focuses on the way they hunt? They focus their attention on the young, the weak, the lame, the distracted. They are very persistent when they are hungry. They prowl, they observe, and then they strike. Often they team up with other lions in their attacks. And they’re vicious. When they have their victim down, they consume them with bloody gulps. It’s not a pretty sight. It’s a sobering thing to watch.
That’s the picture we have above in Peter’s description of the devil. He’s like a roaring lion, vicious and intent on destroying those he attacks. It’s important to note here that Peter is writing to persecuted Christians. They were besieged. They were down and out. They were harassed on every side, both by the religious elites and the Roman government. And so Peter warns them to be watchful. But he doesn’t direct them to these obvious enemies whom they can see. Rather, he points to the invisible but much greater and destructive enemy behind it all. He wants them to be aware, just as the apostle Paul warned that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). And like a lion, the devil focuses on us when we are weak. Like the lions we see on nature shows, he tries to isolate us in our vulnerabilities, and then strike with deadly force.
So what is this pointing to, more specifically. It’s that we must be especially vigilante during times of weakness and stress. This could be in the form of physical illness, financial difficulties, overwhelming situations in the such places as our workplace, or trials of one type or another in personal relationships. It is when we are down and out, stressed, weakened in some way, that the devil will try to isolate us and eventually pounce. It is during such times that our minds can run away with us. Anxiety, fear, and depression can raise their ugly head. And so we look for a way out. Some people try to deaden the pain with drugs or alcohol. Others turn to other diversions like illicit relationships of one type or another. Some turn against themselves in acts of self-mutilation or thoughts of suicide. Each and every one of these avenues are roads that can lead to destruction. And that’s exactly the devil’s plan for us; our utter and total destruction. He wants to kill us if he can or render us totally ineffective, a victim of his vicious attacks.
And so the Bible tells us to be sober-minded and watchful. It’s a call to the proper way to think. We are to be those who are intentional in what we fill our minds with. We are to be constantly aware of our vulnerability to attack. And we are to “Resist (Satan), firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Peter 5:9).
Earlier, Peter had written a similar thought, i.e., that in times of trial we should never think we are the only ones. Listen to his words from 1 Peter 4:12-13: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” You see, we are not alone in our suffering. We are not the only ones who have ever or are right now suffering as we are. There have been many and there are many that are going through very similar things that you and I are. If you don’t think so, consider the epidemic of anxiety and depression that afflicts our world. It’s everywhere we look. We don’t have to spend much time talking to anyone before the troubles of life come to light. And so we are to be prepared, aware, sober-minded as we experience life. If we are not putting on the spiritual armor that God has provided for us, we may find ourselves in a very vulnerable place.
So are you doing that? Are you spending time, as the apostle Paul urged in Ephesians 6, to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might”? Are you mindful to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil”? Are you aware, and do you believe that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”? And are you mindful to, daily, “take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
So, you might ask, how exactly is this done? It’s in the following way which Paul lays out for us in Ephesians 6: “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.”
So does that describe your life? Is it such things that you’re giving yourself to? Are you meditating on the Word of God, which is the source of everything of which Paul speaks? Are your thoughts focused on the way God thinks, or are you too busy for this and occupied with something else. If so, know that you are not being sober-minded and watchful, and the moment may come when your house built on sand falls.
May God help us to not fall into the trap of the roaring lion, isolated from the people of God, ignorant of the Word of God, and distracted by many lesser things, for in the end, only one thing is necessary, to live life in the refuge of the much greater Lion, the Lion of Judah, whose roar will put to flight the infinitely weaker lion that Peter talks about and keep his destructive activities in our life at bay.
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