Words from the Rock
Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you. You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
Matthew 10:16 Message
Jesus was fully aware of the serious dangers his followers would face. It was a frightening time when Christians were routinely beaten, imprisoned, or even murdered as a result of their faith. Obviously this warning was extremely relevant to them. And yet Jesus’s words weren’t meant only for that era—there’s a warning here that still applies today.
While it’s unlikely you’ll be locked up or executed for your beliefs, at least in America, there are plenty of pitfalls to trip you up. The tricky part is that our modern-day challenges are a lot more subtle than the challenges of the early church were. Their opposition was blatant and threatening and in-your-face deadly. Ours is sneaky and quiet—yet just as lethal in the spiritual sense. Compare an enemy with a loaded machine gun aimed directly at your head to an enemy disguised as a friend who slips arsenic into your water. Both are out to destroy.
That’s why Jesus warns you to “stay alert.” He wants you to keep your eyes open and be fully aware. He wants you to realize that you will have spiritual opposition and to be on guard against it. Your enemy might hit you with the temptation to cheat on a math test or to have premarital sex or to lie to your parents. These are just some of the subtle ways your spiritual integrity can be eroded so that you are separated from God and ultimately destroyed. But Jesus wants you to be smart—to comprehend what you’re up against so that you don’t fall into those traps. Because although Jesus is always ready to rescue you, he knows that the more times you get caught in those traps, the harder it becomes to get out.
My Prayer
Dear God,
Help me to be alert enough to see any dangers that are lurking around the corner. But at the same time, keep me from obsessing over these things, and help me focus my attention on you.
Amen.
Final Word
I am glad that everyone knows how well you obey the Lord. But still, I want you to understand what is good and not have anything to do with evil.
Romans 16:19 CEV
Stone for the Journey
Keep your spiritual eyes open, because the most destructive enemy is sneaky and quiet and tricky.