1 Peter 5.8
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith.”
Wise and effective thinking is necessary for an effective and fruitful life. It is imperative that we stay away from anything that would distort our thinking or impair our judgment.
Thus the admonition to “be sober-minded.” While it is certainly true that alcohol and drugs impair our thinking and judgment, there are other intoxicants that also have a distorting influence on our mental state:
- Ego and arrogance
- Lust and greed
- Jealousy and envy
- Unrestrained ambition
- Fear
- Anger
- Ignorance
- Depression
- Social influence and peer group pressure
When the mind comes under the disorienting influence of any of these things, it no longer sees or thinks clearly. Which is precisely why the Lord reminds us throughout scripture to be sober-minded.
Sadly, America today is overdosing on these disorienting mental intoxicants. We are drunk on ego, anger, fear, ignorance, and lust for power. We are in desperate need of leaders and citizens who refuse to submit to the influence of distorted thinking.
We need leaders and citizens who have a clear mind. We need leaders and citizens who fear and trust God, and who see clearly, think effectively, and make wise decisions.
“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4.3-5)
