Week 12, Day 1: The Roaring Lion

Today’s Reading:  2 Peter 2:1-3:18

Some thoughts from Friday’s reading…

One of the most vivid descriptions of Satan is found in 1 Peter 5:8.  Peter tells us that the Devil is “walking around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”  This is one of those passages that you need to close your eyes and picture what the author is describing.  Satan is like a lion, on the hunt.  He is roaring, trying to frighten his prey into freezing so that he can pounce on him.  If he can get us to just give up our defenses, he will be in the prime position to jump on us, and get us to sin.

When we think of lions, we should think about their characteristics.  The lion is vicious.  It is domineering.  There is a reason that the lion is called the “king of the jungle.”  He is not going to be timid in his attacks.  Lions also work relentlessly to down prey.  They will track herds until they are close enough to pounce.  They will also use their surroundings to hide themselves from their prey.

We can see Satan’s tactics in these characteristics.  Satan will be vicious in his attacks upon us.  he is not going to give up, and he is not going to give in.  We can be sure that he will be trying to attack us for as long as we live on this earth.  This is perhaps why Peter’s epistles are so filled with warnings for us to remain faithful, even in times of tribulation and temptation.  Satan will use our surroundings to cause us to stumble.  He will use everything that he can to tempt us.  He knows what will tempt each one of us, and he uses it masterfully.  We have to truly be strong in the faith to be able to avoid “the wiles of the Devil!”

But, even lions can be defeated.  I recently read a book entitled “The Man Eaters of Tsavo”, which was about lions that attacked railroad worker camps in Africa.  The lions grew in fame and infamey by killing many people.  However, eventually, the lions were defeated by the persistence and skill of the engineer who was responsible for getting the railroad bridge at Tsavo built.  The same thing is true for us today.  If we are persistent and skillful in our faith, we will defeat our lion, the Devil, as well!

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