Recently, from my front screen door, I saw a bunny rabbit in my walkway. I decided to take a picture of it to send to my grandchildren. I took the picture while standing behind the screen door. I then decided to take another close-up, which meant I had to open the door. At the sound of the door opening, that thing hopped away so fast and it did not look back.
I thought to myself, “That is how ready and sensitive Christians need to be.” The Bible tells us, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The devil works 24/7; he does not take breaks or vacations, and we shouldn’t either. Unlike God, he is not omnipresent, but he has demons working for him. For that reason, we need to be alert and watchful, so we do not fall prey to any of his schemes. The safest way to do that is to always be ready for fight or flight, just like that bunny.
Knowing the devil could be coming after us any time is good, but we also need to arm ourselves with a plan of escape. How do we arm ourselves? By putting on the whole armor of God: salvation, faith, truth, the Word of God, prayer, and peace (see Ephesians 6:11-18). We should also keep the right company. Sometimes, we have to physically remove ourselves from places or situations to avoid different kinds of trouble waiting to happen.
Jesus stressed the importance of readiness when He said to His disciples on the Mount of Olives, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation” (Luke 22:40). We need to be constantly praying for strength, wisdom, and courage so that we will be victorious when we face temptation and sin. Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat” (Luke 22:31). Taking this seriously, praying to be equipped, and being watchful will defeat Satan in his attempt to sift us.
Keeping the word of God in our hearts keeps us ready to fight back as Jesus did when He was tempted; He quoted Scripture! Each time, His response included: “The Scriptures say” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10). Finally, realizing he was defeated, the devil left Jesus, and angels came and attended Him (Matthew 4:11). Like Jesus, we can make the devil go away, even if it’s only for a brief period. Of course, we have to remain vigilant; we shouldn’t let our guard down, because he will look for other opportunities to return.
Being with the right crowd is a safety measure because if nobody is doing anything wrong around us, it is unlikely that we will be tempted to do wrong. Let’s surround ourselves, as much as is possible, with believers. Of course, we have to be around unbelievers long enough to share the gospel with them and encourage them. This safety measure is not suggesting in any way that we ignore the Great Commission! We just need to be wise and careful.
Finally, in addition to
staying vigilant, let’s continually claim Jesus’ prayer of protection for His
followers, including us: “I am not asking you to take them out of the world,
but to keep them safe from the evil one” (John 17:15).
All quotes are from the New
Living Translation (NLT).
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