“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak” Matt. 26:41 (KJV).
Foundation Text: 1 Tim. 3:1-7
VIGILANCE:
Be watchful! Be at alert! Stay awake! You can help me with other synonyms and applications. I must be sincere, the literal application of this quality makes me want to shy away from it. This is because I am not a pro when it comes to staying awake. I do that occasionally though, especially when there is a prompting by the Holy Spirit to stay awake and pray or there is a corporate vigil. My mentor sleeps barely four hours a day. I may not be at that level now, but with time, I hope to get there and even better.
How interesting it is that most of the time this subject is raised, the next thing that comes to mind is fighting the witches and wizards that are fighting us. It is not our fault, this is what indoctrination and dogmatism has imbibed in us. You see cases were people are given 7 days midnight prayer to fight demons, because that is the time they operate more. I do not intend to assert that those prayers do not work, but you must not wait till midnight to fight demons. What if the demon you are fighting from Nigeria is in Washington DC, USA? Well that’s not what I am treating now. I will be making available a series by my mentor titled THE NEW NORMAL on my blog soon. It will go a long way to help you understand my concern on matters of this nature.
From our focus scripture for this episode, you see Jesus telling his disciples, who were also his servants, why they should watch and pray. In safety training, we were told that PPEs do not stop accidents from happening, rather, PPEs protect the wearer from the adverse effect of the accident. In like manner, being vigilant will not stop temptations from coming your way as a servant of God, rather, it will help you not to fall into it. You only fall into temptation when you have let down your guards.
The more you give yourself to serve God, the more you are exposed to temptations. This is why in the service of God, laxity is not allowed. The truth is that the devil is not letting down his guards in his quest to discredit you before God. This is why Peter passed on the same instruction Jesus gave him that night to us in 1 Pet. 5:8 and I quote:
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (KJVL).
Till I come your way in the next episode, step up your alert level, the times are bad. God will help us to be vigilant in Jesus name. Amen!
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(Transforming the World through the Word)