Day 15 - Watching in Seasons of Special Danger

Be sober-minded; be watchful.
Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:8 (ESV)

There are times we need to be especially watchful (on-guard) against entering into temptation.

We need to realize there are times in our life (seasons) in which we are especially vulnerable or susceptible to entering into temptation. At these times we need to have a heightened awareness and a ready response so that we do not enter into temptation. We need to recognize our weaknesses and guard against entering into temptation.

What are some times (seasons) we need to be especially watchful for temptation?

Drawing from biblical examples, Owen lists four seasons (times) in our lives we need to be especially watchful for temptation and entering into it:

1) A season of unusual outward prosperity or success.
Our enjoyment and celebration of our prosperity can lead us to become blinded to our vulnerability to sin. We begin to "believe our own press." We begin to think this prosperity or success is our new normal. It is how life is and always will be. At moments like these, we are particularly vulnerable to temptation and Satan's attacks.

2) A season "when grace sleeps, when communion with God is neglected, or when duty is only formal"
This is a time that we might call a "dry season," a time in our spiritual lives when we feel distant from God or when we feel we are merely going through the motions of our faith. We are easily drawn into temptation because we want to find relief, fulfillment, and satisfaction. And since we are not finding it in God at that moment, we are drawn to find it elsewhere particularly in sinful ways.

3) A season of great spiritual enjoyment
This is essentially the opposite of #2. There are times in our spiritual lives when we feel especially close to God, on top of the spiritual world. These times can also be when we are so blinded by our spiritual enjoyment we do not see the attacks of Satan coming upon us in temptations.

4) A season of self-confidence
This is not only a season but a state of mind, maybe better a state of pride and arrogance. We can become so self-assured and self-confident that we can face down temptation that we forget just how vulnerable and weak we truly are. We begin to rely upon our own abilities and strengths and neglect our communion with God that empowers us through the world of the Holy Spirit to walk with Christ as we should.

Our Challenge

We must be watchful, sober-minded (1 Pet 1:13; 5:8). Be humble in your thinking. Recognize your in heritage weakness and susceptibility to enter into temptation and sin. Examine yourself (2 Cor 13:5), consider your life. Where are you blind right now to the attacks of Satan (1 Peter 5:8) and to the draw of the lusts of your heart (Rom 1:24). Pray that God would strengthen you that you may not enter into temptation (Matt 26:41) and be merciful to you if you are being drawn in now. Pray that God would indeed give you a way of escape (1 Cor 10:13).