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Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He waddles around like an angry goose, looking for someone to flop. If attacked while riding your bike, ride faster! (1 Peter 5:8-9, OGV [Old Guy Version])
A few days ago, I was riding in an area of streams and small lakes. It was great weather and a perfect day to get in about 30 miles on my bike.
It’s also goose/gosling season—mom and pop geese with their babies—strutting about hissing at all walkers, bikers, and even babies in strollers. I knew this portion of the bikeway was known as “goose alley,” but it’s beautiful—so enticing—so I was thinking…
I will be safe, it won’t matter, and I don’t need to pray.
Then I looked to the left and saw a goose flying straight at me. And before I could rebuke the dumb bird in the name of Jesus, I was riding along on the bike path with a goose flying on top of my head while flopping me with its wings and pecking my helmet.
Onlookers had quite the laugh. I didn’t have a GoPro®, but I did find this video that gives a good visual of my experience.
Another version of 1 Peter 5:8-9 is listed below…
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith (NLT).
We have an enemy, especially active in the end times. When I talk to others about attacks of the evil one, they often say that it happened unexpectedly and they didn’t see it coming.
This is why Paul says, “Stay alert!”
I would suggest reading Scripture and praying every morning. Develop this habit for nurturing a relationship with God but also as strengthening us for spiritual warfare during the day.
The Wall Street Journal had a recent article entitled, “Even Criminals Are No Match for Guard Geese.” After my flopping episode, I read it with interest. There is a prison in Brazil that has a perimeter of two fences and in between there are flocks of geese.
Quotes from the article said…
Fiercely territorial, these fiendish nine-pounders can be surprisingly intimidating, charging at anyone who dares enter their enclosure and unleashing a deafening cacophony of honks if an inmate attempts to escape.
They can’t be bribed. While dogs may be won over by juicy meat and guards by a wad of cash, it’s impossible to befriend a goose. They hate everyone! They have zero loyalty, even to people who feed them every day.
HHHHMMMHHM… sounds like our enemy, the roaring lion.
We can’t compromise with evil, bribe away its consequences, or think that no one will notice if we succumb to temptation.
Let’s watch out for our great enemy. I’m doing a bit more praying before I ride into “goose alley”!