1 Peter 5:8-9
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Back in the 1960’s, I served in the US Air Force at a remote radar site on the northern tip of the Canadian Province of Newfoundland. Our primary task was to protect our nation from attack by warning of possible enemy action.
One of the major elements in defending against aggression is being on alert at all times. I can still recall the long night hours when I was on alert for any sign of threat to our nation. When you are wide awake and expectant, it is much easier to react quickly and appropriately. When the night hours slipped by and our eyes felt like they were filled with sand, it was still necessary to react in a professional manner that comes from long hours of training.
In our spiritual walk we never know when the enemy will mount an attack. We can almost be certain that this attack will occur when we are weary and worn. If we have not spent the time in self examination, prayer, and Bible study, we will be very vulnerable to the attack.
There is one thing we can be sure about–we will meet our Lord face to face. It may be at the moment our eyes close in death or it may be when the trumpet sounds and we are called up to meet the Lord in the air. Either way, we must be on the alert with our lamps burning bright. Are you on the alert?
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil