Be Watchful, Awake and Aware

Recently I was working outside in our Florida home on our concrete slab which is covered by a screen cage. I’d previously painted it with a primer and then two top coats. Today was just right to roller on the sealant. I’d left the back door open, and it didn’t take long to finish the work. When my wife came home, she immediately remarked on how strong the smell was permeating the house (from outside). I had been working with it for so long I couldn’t detect any smell at all. But, not having been exposed to it, she could immediately smell it. So, I quickly shut the door.

What has this to do with a ‘Seed of the Kingdom’ you may well be asking? Well, it struck me that we can easily be tricked by the devil, if we aren’t constantly awake and aware of what the devil might be up to.

That doesn’t mean we need to be fearful, just awake and watchful. We need to keep the door of our mind shut to his schemes. What schemes? Well, they are numerous, but some of the most common ones are:

• You don’t have time to pray


• You aren’t good enough


• You have so much to worry about


• You are too sinful for God to love you


• The devil isn’t concerned about you

It has been said that the devil will use ninety-nine percent of the truth to float one lie.  I think this is true because he can’t create, leaving him only with the ability to twist what has already been created. He is the master of this, and we need to be constantly on guard against it.

Let’s do everything we can, with God’s help, to be aware of what is happening around us and not become so used to wrong ways of thinking, believing, and behaving, that we accept them as normal – just as I did with that sealant smell. (It would have helped me if I had worn a mask, but I thought it didn’t matter. And, like most men, I don’t really read the instructions!)

We need to read the instruction book that is available to all of us – it’s called the Bible.