A century ago, evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman said, "It's not the ship in the water but the water in the ship that sinks it. So it's not the Christian in the world but the world in the Christian that constitutes the danger."

Writing to persecuted believers, Peter applied a different metaphor to Satan. Lions attack sick, young, or straggling animals. Peter sensed that his readers, feeling weak and cut off from other believers, were vulnerable.

To avoid being picked off one by one, we need to stay spiritually healthy—moving about in our environment without ingesting the carcinogens on every side.

Ask God to help us buttress our spiritual defenses, moving them from our close-in conduct flanks out to our thought-life perimeter.

8Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. 9Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.