“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
I have often heard this verse quoted to remind us to always be on our guard against Satan. After all, he never takes a holiday. Our adversary is always on the look-out for the slightest opportunity to bring us down. The original Greek word that is translated here as “prowls” can also be translated “walking” or “living life.” In other words, Satan doesn’t prowl around sometimes. It’s what he does all the time. It’s just how he is. If he’s capable of loving anything, he loves to see us fall away from God. He stops at nothing to bring us to eternal destruction. The moment we let down our guard, he pounces!
When we realize that about Satan, we see how important it is to be self-controlled and alert. We need to be thinking clearly about God, and about ourselves, and about our relationship with God. It’s also important that we are alert to the devil’s schemes, and just as alert to the help God offers us to combat those schemes. So that raises the question of how to always be alert. I don’t know about you, but just the thought of having to be alert at all times makes me tired. How can we possibly do that? Paul also talks about being alert in First Thessalonians where he explains that we are to put on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet. Hmmm. Breastplate and helmet. That says to me that we are to guard our heart and our mind.
Now we get to the core of the matter. What are you allowing into your heart and your mind? Let’s start with the mind. What are you allowing your eyes to see? Your ears to hear? Is it pleasing to God? What about that song, that oldie with the snappy beat? It may be fun to listen to, but what are the lyrics being allowed into your mind? What books are you reading, what shows are you watching? The heart can be a little bit trickier but it pretty much boils down to attitude. Are you living in an attitude of gratitude? Remember that scripture tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people, so if your heart is praising God, you can be assured that He’s in the middle of your heart. And we praise Him best when we’re thanking Him for His many blessings. When we’re protecting our hearts and our minds, that’s when we’re most alert. That prowling lion won’t be able to get one single nibble on someone like that!