Alert!

 

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

—1 Peter 5:8-

The naive join our churches and even sit on our boards. Often these people have grown up in Christian families—or at least church-attending families—and stay within the bounds of like-minded friendships throughout their lives. They know sin is “out there” but think very little about it.

Oh, they certainly would have to leave the world we live in not to know that rapes and murders and robberies and evil dictators exist, but they haven’t yet comprehended the closeness of very real evil to their personal existence. They certainly don’t often consider the sin that may have found its way into their own lives.

Asleep Christians don’t recognize the Tempter when he shows his subtle wares. Most times, the “small” sins that tempt them go unnoticed until they develop into full-blown scandalous desires and actions. Scripture warns us to “be alert.”

Revelation 12:10 names Satan as the “Accuser of the Brothers.” He beguiles us into sin and then stands back and accuses us when we fall, making us feel as though God could never forgive us.

Satan also trips up Christians in their naivety by planting seeds of deadly poison in church congregations. These sinful plots will lead to the destruction of Christian discipleship, fellowship, and even whole churches.

While we shouldn’t seek to find Satan under every pew and look skeptically at all with whom we worship, we must realize that Christ wants mature and discerning followers who recognize sin before it has a chance to grow and flourish in our churches. Scripture warns us to be “alert.”

In Matthew 10:16 Jesus Himself warned his disciples to be “shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.” We do have an enemy who desires to destroy us. Therefore, we pray with Christ, “Deliver us from the Evil One.”

As my friend, Dr. David Mains, once preached: “Satan’s desire is to destroy. God’s desire is to equip. And, our opportunity is to overcome.” If we stay alert to sin, and alert to God’s ability to equip us with His grace and insight, we can overcome the temptations that come into our own hearts and minds. Furthermore, we can also serve Him within our churches by watching and working against destructive forces.

Rejoice in the overcoming nature of God’s Holy Spirit and be grateful for the weapons He provides against our deadly foe!