Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
1 Peter 5:8 NKJV
There is a place where we will have nothing to fear from the devil and his demons. There will come a time when we don’t have to worry about the devil’s schemes, but we are not there yet. As long as we are here on planet earth, we will have to be sober and vigilant. We will have to use wisdom and discernment.
I can assure you when you are trying to do better, the devil is trying to stop you. He will put people in your path that will use, abuse, misuse and reuse if given the chance. Why? Because he wants to devour you. He wants to see you fall.
Praise God, He will give us everything we need to stand against the devil. He gives us armor to protect us in these situations. We should put this armor on daily. You can read all about God’s armor in Ephesians 6:10-18.
God will give us wisdom and discernment. James 1:5 tells us if we lack wisdom, we can ask God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to us. We should pray daily for wisdom and discernment.
When Peter tells us to be sober and vigilant, this means while we can trust in God, we also have to keep watch. We can’t let our guard down. As long as we live on earth, we must be watchful. We will have to deal with the devil’s schemes and his use of his minions to try to mess us up.
When temptations come along or when times get hard, it’s easy to be distracted. It’s easy to allow yourself to focus more on the problem than on the Savior.
Being alert is crucial, but what about the times when we can clearly see the works of the devil in personal temptations or problems that come our way just as we are striving to do what God calls us to do? Well, James 4:7-8 answers this. He tells us to submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
First, we must submit to God. We must surrender to do things His way. While our flesh may want to lash out at someone or worse, we must surrender to God and obey His word. Secondly, we must resist the devil. The devil would like nothing better than for us to “lose our religion” so to speak. He wants us to act like the world acts and fulfill the desires of the flesh. He wants us to act on impulses to do harm to the enemy and attempt to take matters into our own hands.
From the time the devil first entered the picture in Genesis 3 in the Garden of Eden, he has been seeking to devour those of us who are trying to do our best to imitate Christ. He wants us to fail the test just as he was able to get Adam and Eve to fail the test. Through Adam and Eve sin came into the world.
The devil’s tactics haven’t changed. He lied to Eve. He convinced her that even though God had said they would die if they ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God didn’t mean it. They wouldn’t die. He convinced her that the fruit would be good. He convinced her to take that bite and in turn she convinced Adam to do the same.
The devil begins with a lie. He will tell you the grass is greener on the other side.
He convinces you not to worry about the destruction that will surely follow, God will just overlook it.
He was a liar in the Garden of Eden, and he still lies today. Submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee. Be watchful and send the devil packing when he starts prowling around you.
Have a great day!