The Weak Ones

1 Peter 5:8 –

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

Any of you watch those nature shows? Growing up, we’d always watch “Mutual of Omaha’s ‘Wild Kingdom,’” with Marlin Perkins. Remember that? We loved that show.

My favorite ones were those episodes where Marlin and whoever his assistant was at the time would go into dangerous situations to show people how those animals reacted.

They’d be wrestling huge snakes or alligators and stuff, and if you’re honest, you’re thinking, “I wonder if someone’s gonna get bitten or squeezed to death – that’d be cool!”

Well, one thing you can learn from these shows is about how lions pick out their prey from a herd of animals.

Which animals do they pick to kill and eat? The weak ones who fall apart from the herd, right? They’re the ones who don’t have the strength to keep up, or they’re simply not alert. And the lion just watches, waiting for the opportunity to pounce and kill.

They don’t go for the strong ones. You’ll never hear a lion go, “You know what? I think today I’ll go for the leader – the biggest one with the biggest horns.” They don’t work that way. They’re afraid of the big and strong ones.

Your enemy the devil is the same way. He looks for the weak and unaware, waiting for his opportunity to pounce and kill. When we only partake of Christ and the Word on Sundays, we’re weak – and we’re easy pickings for the enemy.

Time spent with Christ in the Word and prayer, on the other hand, makes us strong to be able to resist the devil and live for Christ, even when times are hard.