I included this in a letter I wrote earlier today and thought perhaps others might find it helpful. So I am sharing it here as well.
In 1 Peter 5:8, Peter encourages the Christians to, “Be sober” and to, “be vigilant”. Why? “Because your adversary the devil walketh about seeking whom he may devour:” The word I would like to draw your attention to is the word,“may”. We have all asked a teacher if we “can” go to the bathroom only to have the teacher respond with, “I don’t know. Can you?” The reason for this sarcastic answer is that literally the word “can” refers to ability. The proper word to fit the idea of that question is the word “may”. The word “may” deals specifically with permission.
Isn’t it odd that the devil would be looking for someone to give him permission to devour them? Who would do that? Well, someone who is not sober might.
Sober means "in control". Alcohol is not the only thing that can hinder our ability to control ourselves. Passion and emotion probably are more guilty than alcohol at making us lose control and sacrifice vigilance. A person that is controlled by their emotions and passions forgets that there is a bigger picture and that there is a real adversary, and so now the one whispering in their ear to do or say whatever seems to be a friend when in reality it is Satan himself and they have given him permission to pour on the fire. They find themselves devoured, or consumed.
We must be sober, be vigilant, and remember that the battle we fight will outlive us, and exists on a plane entirely different than the one before our eyes, though the plane before our eyes is the one in which the results of that fight are played out.
In 1 Peter 5:8, Peter encourages the Christians to, “Be sober” and to, “be vigilant”. Why? “Because your adversary the devil walketh about seeking whom he may devour:” The word I would like to draw your attention to is the word,“may”. We have all asked a teacher if we “can” go to the bathroom only to have the teacher respond with, “I don’t know. Can you?” The reason for this sarcastic answer is that literally the word “can” refers to ability. The proper word to fit the idea of that question is the word “may”. The word “may” deals specifically with permission.
Isn’t it odd that the devil would be looking for someone to give him permission to devour them? Who would do that? Well, someone who is not sober might.
Sober means "in control". Alcohol is not the only thing that can hinder our ability to control ourselves. Passion and emotion probably are more guilty than alcohol at making us lose control and sacrifice vigilance. A person that is controlled by their emotions and passions forgets that there is a bigger picture and that there is a real adversary, and so now the one whispering in their ear to do or say whatever seems to be a friend when in reality it is Satan himself and they have given him permission to pour on the fire. They find themselves devoured, or consumed.
We must be sober, be vigilant, and remember that the battle we fight will outlive us, and exists on a plane entirely different than the one before our eyes, though the plane before our eyes is the one in which the results of that fight are played out.
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