My friend Jamie (SOG BullusRexus) wrote this devotional a month ago. It deals with something that most of us guys and even some girls deal with. So read it and take what it says to heart.

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

All of us have seen those nature shows (for kids now it’s Animal Planet, for those of us a little older it was the Mutual Omaha’s Wild Kingdom) that show lions stalking a heard of wildebeest or some such prey. Lions are sneaky and patient. They lie in wait until the perfect moment before they strike. When they do strike they bring everything they have at once in order to score a decisive kill quickly. They also very rarely attack the strongest of the heard or the largest group in the heard. They single out the loners. They attack the ones who are either weak and have become separated from the rest, or the ones who through complacency have become unaware of the dangers around them.

If we consider satan in this light (as Peter’s analogy implies) we can understand why “be self-controlled and alert” is the order of the day. By staying in the Word, keeping a discipline of prayer time every day, and fellowshipping regularly with others we can make sure we are not caught alone or complacent when satan sneaks by. This does not mean that we won’t be attacked, but we will be watching for it, ready for it, and standing with a crowd of brothers and sisters who will lift us up and fight for us in prayer. Let none of us be found fighting alone. We must each find those who will support us and find those whom we can support. This is one of the purposes of the church. Neither lions nor the gates of hell will prevail against it!