Being Alert And Self Controlled

Cats are alert to all sounds in their environment, in this case a moving car. For them, being alert to a sound or smell could mean an escape from danger or an opportunity for a good meal. Today I’d like to talk to you about “Being Alert and Self Controlled”.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

God wants us to always be aware because, we have a common enemy whose name is the devil. The Bible describes him as one that prowls (move around stealthily or restlessly as or like a hunter) like a lion looking for someone (you and me) to devour. Now, does this mean that we are going to be scared all our lives, of this prowler? No, but we are going to be aware of this danger and be ready when he attacks.

So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 1 Thessalonians 5:6

In our physical bodies we have alert responses known as “fight or flight”. This means whenever we get scared, our body usually chooses two responses, whether to run or stand up to that which we are reacting to. If someone comes behind us and tickle our neck.. we usually turn to see who or what as just messed with our tickly neck 🙂 Usually it’s nothing, just a pesky peer, and we return calmly to our rest state (A simple fight response).

Take the same example, we feel a tickle on our neck, turn around, see no one, but still feel something on our neck, immediately, we brush our neck and if we see a large spider dusted off on the floor, we jump back! (that’s if we are scared of spiders).

Being Alert And Self Controlled by Godserv

The first example is that of a normal fight response – we turn, nothing is wrong and we are ok. The second is an example of fight and flight working together, we suspect danger, we fight it off by brushing our neck, we see the danger face to face and jump back (the flight response)

That’s the physical responses and God has placed that in us from the beginning of time to protect us from physical dangers.

The verses above relates, not to a physical, but to a spiritual danger (even for Christians, if not especially). If God took so much effort in engineering our brains to give us the responses to physical danger, then we must pay attention to the warnings regarding the spiritual.

“The devil is an adversary, not a friend; he is a roaring lion, not a playful pet. He want to devour you, and you had better be on guard, Peter thought he was able to defeat the enemy, so he did not heed the Lord’s warning (Luke 22:31-34). The result were failure and shame. You can resist Satan by faith if you are wearing the “armor and trusting the Spirit (Ephesians 6:10-20).” ~ The Essential Everyday Bible Commentary by Warren W. Wiersbe

Notice that self-control always comes combined with the alert warning. That is very significant. I think it speaks of controlling our sinful desires. Our new spirit lives in a body that is accustom to sinning and, as we grow as a Christian, we must practice self-control. When we don’t, we place ourselves into the hands of the prowler and we are more likely to be devoured. Imagine if the cats above placed themselves into dangerous circumstances all the time, they would have less hope of escaping it. No matter how fast their ears went up to take in more sound to identify the danger, no matter how fast they ran – that danger would have a higher probability of catching up to them (in this case I’m thinking of my friends dog, who is known to have mauled a cat).

I like Ephesians 6:18 that says,

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

Pray for each other continually, don’t neglect coming together, and always encourage each other unto good works. Be Alert and Self Controlled.