Todays Opportunity to Grow Toward Christ-Vigilance
JOHN SHIRK – Vigilance can be defined by keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties. After a terror attack in Stockholm, Sweden in December, residents were urged to remain vigilant, to keep their eyes open to possible dangers, so that any future attacks might be thwarted.
Spiritually, we are facing an adversary who seeks to deceive and destroy us. While it is unhealthy to be preoccupied by thoughts of the devil, it is also unwise to pretend as though he does not exist. A good perspective is to be aware of the devil, but to be impressed by God. The Apostle Paul said about Satan in Second Corinthians 2:11, “We are not unaware of his schemes.”
The Apostle Peter wrote in First Peter 5:8, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.” Vigilance is aware that a battle is taking place, and we keep our eyes open to the dangers of the battle, so that we might not surrender to the control of the enemy.
Vigilance is a character quality that enables us to represent Jesus in the world today.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
This is absolutely true and I couldnt have said it better myself. The enemy is constantly looking for the chance to jump at you, every little mistake, anything that he could use against us, and sometimes it gets the best of us because we are human, but our Powerful, Amazing, Merciful GOD puts the stop to it. HE comes in to fight for us, our Powerful Giant who will never give us more than we can bear. Its hard sometimes to see the light when you feel you are in the darkness but it is soooooo worth it to just take that extra step, or as I like to call it, The Leap of Faith! GB
What an encouraging and uplifting way to explain this! Thank you for this encouragement today! God Bless!
Good Morning John,
Perfect words I needed to hear today. I’ve been in a spiritual battle on and off for a few days now and the
word, Vigilance, is just what I needed to remind me to “be aware of the devil, but to be impressed by God.” I enjoy reading your blogs, they are like daily reminders for us to grow in Christ! Thank you!
God Bless,
Linda