Therefore, Be Serious

You may not want to think about it or even accept it, but if you have determined to follow Jesus with all your heart, Satan has marked you for destruction. And he’s going to flood your life with troubles of all kinds.

The apostle Peter warns, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers” (1 Peter 4:7). In other words, “This is no time for lightness. You must get sober-minded about spiritual things because it is now an issue of life and death.”

Why be so serious? Because the end of time is near and our enemy has turned up the heat. He is stalking us like a lion, hiding in the grass, waiting for an opportunity to pounce. He wants to devour us — to utterly destroy our faith in Christ.

Some Christians feel we shouldn’t even talk about the devil, that we’re better off just ignoring him. Others try to reason him out of existence entirely. Liberal theologians, for instance, argue that there is no devil, no hell, no heaven.

But the enemy of our souls is real! Few biblical figures have been identified so clearly and extensively and he is not going to go away. He is described as Lucifer, Satan, devil, deceiver, hinderer, wicked one, usurper, imposter, accuser, devourer, god of this world, ruler of darkness, old serpent.

These emphatic descriptions tell me the devil exists and we know from scripture that he wields a very real power. Even now he is at work on the earth — in our nations, cities, churches, homes and individual lives. And we dare not be ignorant of his methods and strategies of warfare. 

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9).