As a Roaring Lion

Be sober! Watch! For your plaintiff, the Adversary, is walking about as a roaring lion, seeking someone to swallow up" (First Peter 5:8).

If my plaintiff, the Adversary, is walking about as a roaring lion, then he must not really be one.

If you are going to a Halloween party dressed up as a tube of toothpaste, then it stands to reason that you are really not a tube of toothpaste. Example:

"Phyllis! Is that a tube of toothpaste walking up our driveway?"

"Either that, Bill, or it's someone dressed up as a tube of toothpaste."

How does the Adversary seek to swallow someone? Most people would say, "By making them sin. By putting hate in their heart. By making them quit church." No. These people are giving Satan too much power. He loves it when people think that. Wouldn’t you rather drive Satan crazy? Then accept everything from the hand of God. Trouble? Thank you, Lord. Heartache? Thank you, Lord. Frustration? Thank you, Lord. I know this is a radical way of thinking and that it is sometimes nearly impossible to do, but it is the scriptural ideal (see Romans 8:28, Ephesians 1:11, and Job 2:10).

As long as you keep thinking that Satan can do this or that to thwart God's will for your life, then he's got you convinced that he really is a roaring lion. By consciously giving Satan the potential ability to ruin God's designs for you, you have fallen for his trick and have swallowed his line. By getting you to swallow him, he has swallowed you.

The Adversary walks about as a roaring lion.　

The big liar.