“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5:8‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Perhaps you have heard the song before?

Oh be careful little eyes what you see, oh be careful little ears what you ear, and be careful little lips what you say…

Why? Because the Father up above is looking down in love, oh be careful little eyes what you see!

Listen, the enemy is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and as I heard a pastor say one time, he will take you to Hell with a hangnail if you let him!

What does that mean exactly? Well as my Pastor says, “When emotions are high, decision-making is low!”

Have you ever noticed how oftentimes we make the dumbest decisions when we are tired, hungry, stressed, or over-worked?

Why is that?

Because it’s in these moments that we aren’t thinking clearly, it’s in these moments when our minds are foggy and our capacity to make good, solid, wise decisions is hampered, our judgment is skewed.

You ever notice the signs on the road that warn against driving while drowsy?

Being sober and staying vigilant doesn’t just refer to abstaining from getting drunk or high, although this is certainly advisable, especially if we are to be a witness for Jesus!

It also means keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus at all times,

Taking practical steps to avoid and abstain from all appearance of evil.

For example: if we are struggling with fear, but watching horror movies and listening to the news report every night before bed and when we wake up, this is not the way to keep sober and vigilant!

Listen, we have learned already that it’s the enemy who is the twister of all things good and holy, not God!

God has created things holy and wholesome for us to enjoy like food, work, sex, and all sorts of amazing things, but when we seek to use these things to satisfy our cravings only or use them as a means of attempting to make us happy or fill a void on the inside, these things that were once meant for good will now begin to backfire and slowly erode away our souls!

In other words, each one of us has an invisible throne in our hearts, and it can only be occupied by one person at a time!

Either we keep sober and vigilant and allow Jesus His rightful place on that throne, or else we continue to usurp His authority by steadily neglecting intimacy with Him and placing ourselves on that throne…

I know it sounds harsh when said like that, but the Good News is this:

No matter what decisions we made in the past, we have the opportunity to make the next right one!

We have the chance, right now, to bend our knees and surrender our hearts to the King of kings and Lord of lords!

Not because He is some uncaring, unempathetic entity in the sky, but because He, as our creator and as our Father seeks to know us and for us to know Him, and He desires what is best for us!

Therefore, we ought to as good Christian soldiers, stand as SIN-tinels, keeping watch with all diligence, with sobriety for anything that seeks to steal, kill, or destroy!

And remember, life is connected!

So when we guard our hearts by keeping a careful watch over what comes past our eye, ear, and mouth gates, we are also protecting our witness for Jesus to others!

My challenge for you and me today?!

Let’s be SIN-tinels in the Kingdom of God!

remaining sober, staying vigilant, and being a witness for the One who is oh so worthy!

I want to end with an amazing passage of scripture found in Proverbs to further drive home episode 5 of “Sin Week,”

“My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep them in the midst

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