"Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour."
1 Peter 5:8
Many people will assume that this verse speaks to the consumption of alcohol, and it can be interpreted that way. Moreover, though, it refers to a sobriety of thought. To be sober is to be in control. It is defined as both being not intoxicated (drunk) and as being sedate in demeanor, which is to say that one is calm and collected. A calm person can more readily see the assailant coming for him, and more readily defend against the assault.
And for those of you who doubt, please know that Spiritual warfare is very, very real. It is going on right now, inside all of us. Which side is winning is up to the individual and the level of self control that is employed. As I pointed out yesterday, it is not okay to simply excuse uncontrolled thoughts by saying that you "are just that way" and nothing can change it. You can change it, and you can think about something else. But I'll get to that in a different posting.
Without control, the enemy sees you bending to whatever whim overtakes you. The enemy looks upon that and sends another temptation, one slightly greater than the last. A video game I own and enjoy contains a line about falling from the path of the righteous to the path of evil, and I find it particularly accurate. It says, "It is such a quiet thing, to fall." It goes on (and I cannot quote the whole thing, so I'll paraphrase) to explain that there is no massive explosion that causes it, but rather a slow and steady change in the mind and heart, which then alters the course of one's chosen path. And if you can be led onto that wide open path, the one that far too many people walk already, the one that does not lead to a better and more full life in Christ, then the enemy has won.
Guard your mind today. Guard your heart, as well. Control your thoughts and whims in your time at work or at home or wherever you may be, and make certain that you are still making noise for the Kingdom! It is through this noise that the enemy knows we are immovable, and we can honor the Lord by being so!
God bless you all!!!
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