Vigilant

 

I have three bird feeders in my back yard.  My wife reminds me that I spend a lot of money on those birds.  I tell her that I don’t have a dog; I don’t have a cat; I have wild birds.  And they give me pleasure to watch.  Often I find a clump of feathers indicating that I am not the only one who has been watching the birds.  A neighborhood cat has been at work and killed one of my birds.  So, I conduct an FBI investigation and analyze the crime scene.  Usually, it’s one of two types of feathers: Blue jay or dove.  But why only those two types?  I never find cardinal feathers.  I never find sparrow feathers.  I never find woodpecker or wren or starling or blackbird feathers.  Why only Blue jay or dove feathers?  Interesting.  I have determined that Blue jays get caught because they are over-confident and become careless.  And doves get caught because … well … they are just stupid.  Hey, does that sound familiar?  Are we humans like those birds in our struggle against Satan?  The apostle Peter warned in I Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  We must be on guard against Satan because he is slinking around (like the neighborhood cat) looking for an easy target.  Satan is looking for over-confident people and Satan is looking for stupid people.  Make no mistake, Satan and his minions are real!  So don’t fall prey to them!  Don’t be careless and don’t be stupid like Blue jays or doves.  Be serious, be vigilant, and be on the look-out for Satan!  Trust in God and trust in His Word, and … see you in church this Sunday for your defensive training class.