Have you ever done something and thought later, “how did I allow that to happen?” I know I have, more times than I would like to admit. You get comfortable with a situation, and you let your guard down. The next thing you know you have said or done something you were totally against. Maybe, it was letting your guard down with another person. You know you have not been able to trust that person before, but you think this time it’s different until you find out your trust has been misplaced. We are taught in I Peter 5:8, to be aware of our adversary the devil. He is the champion of catching us off guard. The first instruction in this verse is “be sober.” This is the instruction in the text for today in I Thessalonians 5:6.
I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”
In I Thessalonians 5:6, where Paul instructs us to be sober. This word means to be abstinent in regards to alcohol, and in general to be sober-minded, allowing nothing to impair your thinking. We are to be watchful paying attention to everything that is going on around us. In verse 7, Paul says we are not to be like those who indulge in alcohol until they are in a stupor and fall asleep. We are to exercise self-control at all times. As mentioned in I Peter 5:8, the devil is always lurking waiting and watching for his moment to devour us.
I Thessalonians 5:6-7 “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.”
After strong instructions to avoid anything that would cloud our thinking Paul turns our thoughts toward how we can overcome the adversary. We are to put on the breastplate of faith and love. This was a part of the armor that covered the front and back of a warrior from the neck to the thighs. He then mentions the helmet, the hope of salvation. Our salvation will guard us against the attacks of Satan that try to rob us of our hope of eternal life. The helmet covers the head. With the brain protected we can think clearly. We can increase our protection against the enemy by learning and remembering scripture that encourages us and gives us weapons against the enemy. When we fill our minds full of God’s word we can know how to respond in the tough times of life. We can have peace knowing that no matter what happens in life our eternal destiny is secure. God’s love for us provides a way for us to escape the payment for our sins. He does not desire to execute His wrath on us, to punish us with eternal Hell. However, because of His holiness, if we chose to be our own God, living life as we chose, we will suffer His wrath for all eternity.
I Thessalonians 5:8-9 “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,”
One day Jesus, who died to pay the penalty for our sins, who satisfied the wrath of God against sin on our behalf, will come again. We don’t know when that will be, but we must be ready and stay ready until that day, or until we die. Just before Jesus ascended back to Heaven, He told His followers in John 14:3, He was going to prepare a place for them, However, he didn’t stop there He also told them, and those who would follow after He left, that He would come again. When He returns those who are in the grave and those who are alive that are His will go to meet Him in the air. This will be a great day for those who have placed their faith in Him, but a terrible day for those who have not followed Him in obedience. When Jesus appears, our destination is sealed. The opportunity will be passed to chose Him as Lord and Savior. Today is the day to make sure you are ready to meet Him while you have time. Don’t be caught off guard!
I Thessalonians 5:10 “Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.”
John 14:3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
