Today's Photograph: Learning from Antelope. (MQ)
Bible Study Verse
1 Peter 5:8
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. (NLT)
Thoughts
While hunting deer, my buddy was walking along a steep ridge in northern Arizona. Sometime before he had noticed a herd of pronghorn antelope in the valley floor below him, but no deer were in sight, so he continued along the ridge. Then he noticed movement from within a juniper tree directly in front of him. He slowly knelt to a knee, raised his rifle and waited. As time ticked by, the image became clear--first a tail swaying back and forth, then occasionally the flick of an ear and finally a mountain lion appeared from inside the juniper where it had been laying patiently, attentively, staring at the pronghorn in the valley below. (BM)
Action Point
As Christians we can learn a lot from those pronghorn that use multiple avenues to watch out for attacks. First, they group in numbers. There is strength in numbers--more eyes to watch for predators. For us, it is the strength found in fellowship with other believers. Secondly, pronghorn have exceptional eyesight. They can see very long distances with acute accuracy. We too can see clearly what God wants us to see, but in order to do this we need to read His Word. Lastly, they placed themselves in the middle of a large open valley. This way the mountain lion had to cross a vast space in order to reach the pronghorn. They could see him coming a mile away. We also can do this by not placing ourselves in areas of vulnerability and not standing too close to the edge where the Devil is easily camouflaged and we do not know he is on the attack until it is too late.