TUESDAY October 24th
1 Peter 5:8–9
‘Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.’
This is the third time that Peter has called the believers to be sober-minded, (see 1:13, 4:17) and here he adds to it the words ‘Be watchful’. He then explains why it is so important for us to be sober-minded and watchful, ‘Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.’
What a picture Peter is painting here, and we need to try to visualise what he is saying in our minds, the devil is prowling around, thankfully he is not omni-present, but he is dangerous, and he is seeking someone to devour, to destroy, to bring to ruin! Imagine being in a wildlife park, and suddenly an announcement comes over the speaker system, ‘Run for safety. A lion has escaped, and he is dangerous, oh, and by the way he hasn’t been fed today so he will most certainly devour you if he gets you.’ I can guarantee that every one of us would run and hide as quickly and as safely as we possibly could—no way do we want to be the lion’s dinner!
Likewise, we need to ensure that we are doing all we can and using everything which God has made available to us to be able to do what Peter says we need to do, ‘Resist him, firm in the faith’. We need to ensure that we walk so close to God and so far away from the world to ensure that the devil doesn’t get a foothold in our lives which would eventually lead us to being destroyed.
How can we do this? By walking close to God, by walking close to our brothers and sisters in the faith through fellowship and friendship and by living according to his word.
In the context of these verses Peter continues with more concerning the suffering that will come to those who walk closely with God and reminds all that are suffering that they are not alone. We are a part of what Peter calls ‘your brotherhood throughout the world’. You or I as an individual are not alone! Not only is God with us and for us, but we also have a wonderful family which is a worldwide family who are willing to stand with us, oh how essential fellowship with each other truly is. The devil is going about like a roaring lion, and those who stand firm through testing times, or through periods of suffering will be those who are already standing firm in the faith, ready to resist him.