"Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober" (I Thessalonians 5:6).

On this anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day, with also the more recent (9-11) attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center in our memories, we still need often to be reminded that watchfulness and sobriety are of high importance in a dangerous world. Despite many indications that our forces were vulnerable to sudden destruction on that terrible morning over sixty years ago, the attack on Pearl Harbor came suddenly on many who were sleeping and unprepared. More recently, the many warning signs of imminent terrorist attacks by Koran-believing Muslims on key American targets had likewise been largely ignored and business-as-usual was being carried on in New York and Washington, apparently oblivious to the imminent massacres soon coming from the sky.

This indifferent attitude still seems prevalent among much of the nation, although our president and other leaders are trying to awaken the sleepers. Our nation needs to watch and pray, as never before, but an anti-spiritual humanistic fog seems to be enveloping our land.

Our text above is primarily directed to individual Christian believers, of course. We need to watch and be sober, not only on behalf of our nation, but also for our communities, our families, and ourselves. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (I Peter 5:8).

Satan has great power in this world, but "greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world" (I John 4:4). The apostle Peter would join with the apostle Paul (author of our text above) in his exhortation, reminding us that "the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer" (I Peter 4:7). HMM