1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober*~ and alert*~. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour.”
In some companies, the competition to eliminate those who might impede our own opportunity for advancement makes for an aggressive and dangerous environment. Only the “survivors” succeed.
In the Christian life, we are called to “urgently decide to be sober and alert” because an enemy “is on the prowl.” To be sober means to be “calm and collected in spirit, [or] temperate and dispassionate.” This attitude allows us to look at reality with a clear mind, in full control of our own disposition. In the fullness of the Spirit, this attribute becomes one of the characteristics that marks a Spirit-filled person (Gal 5:22).
To be alert means to “arouse, watch, give attention to [especially to God’s revelation], or be watchful for opportunities and dangers, both internal and external forces seeking to harm or destroy.”
Jesus warned Peter just before his betrayal, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith not fail” (Luke 22:31–32). A few hours later, Peter failed to watch and pray (Matt 26:41), which led to his denial of the Lord Jesus.
Satan, we are told, accuses the Christian in the presence of God (Rev 12:10) as he did in the Old Testament times (Zech 3:1–5; Job 1:6). Furthermore, the world is under the power of the “evil one.” The psalmist wrote, “Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me” (Ps 22:13). Peter likewise described Satan as a “roaring lion…looking for someone to devour.” Humans are no match for this most powerful enemy.
Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Deliver us from the evil one” (Matt 6:31). John declared that believers “have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Rev 12:11); nevertheless, believers must always be alert “against the devil’s schemes” (Eph 6:11) and protect themselves with spiritual armor (6:11–18).
Martin Luther wrote, “The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; His rage we can endure, for lo! His doom is sure, one little Word shall fell him.”
“Lord, keep me from being deceived by the evil one. May I avoid emotional reactions to circumstances today and instead see every encounter as a divine opportunity to share Your wisdom.”