I was reading in 1 Peter 5:8-9a where it talks about staying alert and watching out for the devil as he is prowling around seeking whom he may devour.  I think satan’s attacks are sneaky and sometimes they are full on attacks that are easier to see but often harder to fight – like cancer, divorce, etc.  Other times, more often, he uses the distractions in our life to pull us away little by little.  CS Lewis wrote about this in The Screwtape Letters.  If you’re not familiar with it, it’s written in the first person point of view of a demon to another demon giving advice on how to draw man away from God.  CS Lewis was a Christian and this book is eye-opening about the sneakiness of the devil.   Here is one my favorite quotes:

    It does not matter how small the sins are provided that the cumulative effect is to edge        the man away from the Light…Indeed, the safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

For me, I think Satan distracts me with the everyday “stuff”.  I start a morning study or blogging and am faithful until something happens to distract me.  Two years ago, I started this blog. A month into it, I suddenly had to plan a wedding.  The blogging fell away.  This summer, I made a commitment to blogging again and I fell and broke my elbow – haven’t blogged since and have not been faithful to my daily Bible study.

I do NOT believe that the wedding or my broken arm are from the devil, but I do believe he uses the “stuff” in our life to distract us from the things of the Lord.  If we’re distracted, we’re not “running the race set before us”.

I went to a women’s thing  at my church.  The speaker was Debbie Stuart.  She challenged us to give twenty minutes a day for the rest of our lives to God.  I love that.  She said that when we do that during the days we’re just going along with no major worries, it prepares us for the difficult times.  I believe that’s how we stay alert.

My challenge for myself today and anyone who reads this is to commit to twenty minutes a day for the rest of our lives.  Let me leave you with this:

     Stay alert!  Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.   Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. 1 Peter 5:8-9a

My commitment is to my personal Bible study and I’ll blog when I can.  I hope you’ll join me in a 20 minute a day commitment to your personal study and prayer time.  That’s how we’ll “be strong in our faith”.

Until next time,

Elaine