Keep Your Eyes Wide Open

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 NIV

Even when we walk along the path the Lord has laid out for us, we must be alert at all times. The enemy can sneak up on us at any time, even if we simply blink momentarily.  We must always keep our eyes on the Lord. When Adam walked in the garden with God, tended to the garden, named and ruled over all God’s animal creations, all was good. Then, somehow, he took his eyes off the Lord and the path just long enough to let the serpent get in.

It is written:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:3 NIV

We know that the serpent was successful in deceiving the first Adam and his Eve.  Why? How was it that the serpent entered the Garden? Could it be that Adam took his eyes of the Lord momentarily?

There are many biblical examples of why we need to keep alert and of sober mind.  The enemy, the world, and our flesh are all susceptible to the temptations of the world. We must keep our eyes wide open. Pride, lust, and reliance on self over God can all be blinding. A great example of this is Samson.  God had blessed him as a judge from his youth. God had his back, all was good.  At times Sampson literally wandered off of the path.

It is written:

Sometime later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey.  He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. Judges 14:8-9 NIV

Samson turned aside, he wandered off of the path, and ate of the honey he knew he was not to eat. He eventually allowed his lust and pride for a woman, Delilah, to lead to his fall.  Why? He took his eyes off of the Lord and stopped watching where he was going. The enemy saw this and entered Samson’s garden. Samson took his eyes off the Lord, and the enemy was there to make sure he kept them off of the Lord.

Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison. Judges 16:21 NIV

These are just two of many examples of how easily the enemy can sneak up on us, if we simply blink in our walk with God. Many heroes in the Bible took their eyes off the Lord – we are in very good company. David, Jonah, Lot’s wife, the Apostle Paul, when he set out on the Damascus road, Peter, when he walked on water, and so many more. We can all probably add our names to that list. Let’s keep our heads looking up, and our eyes wide open.

It is written:

…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 NIV

Remember to keep alert and have your eyes wide open.

Treat all with gentleness and respect….

Barnabas

 

Special thanks to Barnabas for this guest submission.