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

You are probably familiar with this verse, it is often quoted. It tells us to be sober and be vigilant. We must pay attention to our surroundings. We know that evil lurks out there and we must be very careful.

We should also know that the devil is our adversary. He will go to some extreme lengths to lure us in and make us think doing what he wants us to do is best. He may even try to convince us that our sin is a good thing or it’s an opportunity given to us by God. One of the most memorable Scripture passages about this is when David had two opportunities to kill King Saul. King Saul was hunting David down trying to kill him. On two separate occasions it seemed as though Saul was literally delivered into David’s hands by God Himself. David, however, being a man after God’s own heart, refused to kill Saul. Killing Saul would have ended David’s life on the run. It would have made David king. But because Saul was God’s anointed king, David trusted in God to kill Saul in His own timing and His own way. That took a lot of discernment and to have this kind of discernment, we must be in a close, loving relationship with our Lord and Savior.

To get a better understanding of any verse we must look at it in the proper context. We do this by looking at the verses before and after to give us a better meaning of what is being said. In 1 Peter 5:7 we have another verse that if often quoted by itself. It tells us to cast our cares upon Him because He cares for us. And if we go even farther back to verse six, we are told to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God so that He may exalt us in due time.

While our Scripture passage tells us to be sober and vigilant, verse 8 says that we should resist the devil, stand firm in the faith and know that the same sufferings are being experienced by fellow Christians throughout the world. And I love the promise in verse 10 which tells us that after we have suffered a little while, Christ Himself will personally restore us. He will perfect, establish, strength and settle us.

Peter is trying to tell us how not to be devoured by the devil. First, we need to humble ourselves before God. We know that we are told in Proverbs 16:18 tells us pride comes before destruction. God will exalt us in His timing and David certainly understood this.

Then we must cast our cares before God understanding that God cares for us. Though David was going through difficult times, he knew that God was with Him and cared for Him. He trusted in God’s plan and God’s timing for him.

And most importantly, we must be sober and vigilant. We can’t let our guard down. Pray continually, study your Bible and always put on God’s armor that is mentioned in Ephesians 6:10-18.

When we do these things, we strengthen our relationship with our Lord and Savior. This will make it easier to stand against the devil’s temptations and remain steadfast knowing that everyone experiences temptation as we know from 1 Corinthians 10:13. It’s just a part of life here on earth.

And know that even when we do suffer, God is there for us. He, Himself will perfect, strengthen and establish us after we have suffered a little while.

If we don’t commit our lives to our Savior, we will be devoured by our enemy. That is our only two options. Choose wisely.

Have a great day!