We are to be a serious and deliberate people. We are not to run through life as one might run barefooted through a meadow of daffodils. We are not to have a Doris Day theology – you know, “Que sera, sera whatever will be will be.”

On the contrary, we must realize that we live this life in a war zone. We are behind enemy lines. In today’s verse we read that the god of this world is on the prowl.

There are many interesting historical sites around Saint Petersburg, or as it was called in the communist era, Leningrad. One of the many things that make that city special is that it was held under siege for over three years by the Nazi German army during World War Two. The Russian citizens suffered unspeakable horrors.

After the first year food ran out. Trees were burned to incinerate the piles of bodies, dead from starvation and cold. Yet they hung on. They kept the German wolf at bay. Today there is a huge monument on the edge of the city that marks the end of the German advance. Though they shelled the city mercilessly and cut off all supplies, they were not able to possess it. The Russians held out against terrible odds.

Imagine what that must have been like. You would cautiously ration your food. You wouldn’t show yourself in the streets during daylight hours. You wouldn’t burn candles near open windows at night for fear of being a target. Life in the war zone is life lived “carefully.” Those who were not careful died, and they died quickly.

How do we “prove or examine everything?” We must follow the leadership of the Spirit of God and we rightly divide the Word of God.