Temptation is often describes as a Lion in the Bible.

1.. This Lion Lies with Fear.

Samson is one of the strongest men that ever lived. He took on entire armies and won…. He beat a Lion with his bear hands… But!! The inner safari and inner jungle of lust and anger is what did him in.    There was a huge cost to the death he carried around.  He lost his first wife in marriage.  He lost his eyes, his strength and his freedom when he is captured by the opposing army. He also lost his innocence, his purpose, and his God given destiny…   Samson’s whole life he feared that God’s way was holding him back and keeping him from the “good stuff…’    And that let his guard down and he was devoured by the Lion of Lies and Fear.  The Bible warns us about this kind of Lion.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Peter 5:8

The idea of a literally devil might be hard for you to believe, but about if I put in the word temptation, the phrase rings true.   We better be sober and vigilant because our adversary  temptation is like a roaring lion seeking to devour you.     If you and I were to go on a Safari and I told you that we’d be wondering around Lion territory, we’d approach life very different wouldn’t be.   We’d be on guard for lions.    We’d be ready to fight. We’d have a healthy sense of soberness, or readiness or “danger” about us.

One of the greatest tools Lions use to hunt is fear.   Often when Lions see prey in the wild.   A giant Male Lion will get on one side of a field and ROAR!!!  That roar will strike fear into the prey and they will go running the opposite direction.    Hiding out on the other side of the field are Lionesses ready to pounce.  This Lion uses fear to get you running in one direction to entrap you in an ambush of Lionesses.     Temptation uses fear in the same way.. .

”If you believe in god, you’ll be one of those hypocrites….”

“How can you trust God, with all the suffering in the world?

 “If I don’t get out of this marriage now, I’m stuck in it forever…

“If I don’t sleep with my boyfriend, he’ll break up with me…”

“If I don’t fudge the numbers, we’ll lose this big deal….”

“If I tell people the kinds of things I struggle with, I’ll be condemned…”

“I don’t need help, I can stop whenever I want…”

These are all statements of Fear. Lies from the Lying Lion.    This Lion is Dead.   He is a Dead Carcass. A Zombie Lion.  he knows the only way to kill you is to lie to you with honey, or scare you with fear.

So, how do you defeat a zombie lion who is walking around, prowling around, trying to eat you?   You need to be sober, vigilant..