Keeping The Lion Away Part I

Like many of you out there in cyber land I am a video junkie. So when I saw a new video on Rapture Alert I immediately viewed it. The video (as most of you know) is of a group of water buffalo who seemingly lose a small calf to a group of lions. As the video progresses the lion grabbed a small calf from the back of the herd, when I saw I thought, “Poor little guy!” Then something happened, the buffalo fought back! They managed to fight a pride of lions, and two African crocodiles to reclaim their calf. This made me think of a verse I Peter 5:8-9:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Here in this passage The Word of God draws a similarity between Satan and a roaring lion. Like the lions in the video, the Devil does hunt us. He is very cunning, he is very deadly, and he more often than not chooses the weakest among us as his victims. God words gives us the tools so that we can be victorious over Satan. While he is very powerful, I John 4:4 says, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” We are the children of God, and we can have victory of the lion, we can keep him away but there are something we must remember.

The first thing we must remember is Our Obligation. The first four words of I Peter 5:8 say, “Be sober, be vigilant…” We first have an obligation to be sober. The term sober can be defined as being temperate, dispassionate, and circumspect. That’s not a very popular mindset in our pleasure driven world today. The more time that goes by, the more our world seems more interested in our own satisfaction. Romans 13:11-13 is very interesting in this light:
Rom 13:11-13 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.(12) The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.(13) Let us walk honestly ,as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. Beloved, I believe that our salvation is nearer today, than when we first beloved. I honestly feel that Jesus Christ is very close to His return. Having said that we must be sober. We must keep our heads, we must remember that we have a job to do, and it is of the utmost importance.


Not only must we be sober, we must also be vigilant. It is not enough to be only be sober we must be watchful, we must give strict attention to our task so that people will be aware. Ezekiel 33:6-7 say :

But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. (7) So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

The Lord had given Ezekiel a important job his job was simple, “. . .warn them from me.” Ezekiel was carrying his message to the people of Israel, he was carrying God’s. Like that faithful prophet we carry God’s message of salvation. Likewise, just as Ezekiel was responsible for giving the message, we are responsible for proclaim the message of Salvation through Jesus Christ. One must understand the importance of a watchman in Bible times. Most if not all major cities had walls, they kept potential attackers at bay. On this wall you would have a watchman, a guard, and his one job would be to warn the people in the event of an attack. If he fell asleep or failed to do his job, than the destruction that was reaped upon the city would be his fault. We as believers are watchman, we sit on the wall and we are watching for the signs of an impending destruction and when we fail to warn we have the blood on those who died on our hands.
Our first step in keeping the lion away is to be sober, be serious, don’t allow the cares of this world come up and choke you and keep you from doing your duty. We must also be vigilant, be at the ready to do our duty at any time. The devil is real, he is on the hunt, he is vigilant, he is sober, he is ready are you?