Let’s face it: We’re at war.
No, I don’t mean that our country’s soldiers are off fighting somewhere
in the world. I mean right here, right
now, right under our noses, we’re at war.
The Bible provides many images of this conflict. God has often reminded His people of this
fact. That, like it or not, we’re at war
with a relentless enemy.
We don’t recognize the
struggle we’re in because we can’t see it, or touch it, or hear it, or sense it
in any way. It is a spiritual battle
being waged (Ephesians 6:12) and physically minded people are not able
to comprehend what is going on. Our
souls are at stake. Therefore, it
requires our thinking on the spiritual level in order to “see” the enemy and
effectively engage him in battle. This may also be behind Jesus’ words that our
worship is to be spiritually based – and guided by His truth (John 4:23-24).
Another problem we
have fighting this invisible war is that the enemy is really good at using
those around us to attack us. We don’t
expect the people we love and respect to be the weapons Satan strikes us with. He did it to Jesus using the disciples (Matthew
16:23), his hometown folks (Matthew
13:57), his own family (John 7:5), and even John the Baptist (Luke
7:19). I can only imagine the
torture Stephen must have felt when the very people who should have understood
what he was saying ended up killing him.
Notice Paul’s despondency at having his friend Demas had turn against
him (2 Timothy 4:10). These were
all attacks by Satan.
Fortunately God loved
us so much that He gave us everything needed to win this kind of war. He sent Jesus to cleanse us from the sin that
weighs us down (Hebrews 12:1-3).
He has a home prepared and waiting for us when we get to heaven (2
Corinthians 5:1). He has given us
all of the necessary pieces of armor for protecting our souls, for attacking and
defeating our enemy (Ephesians 6:13-18).
The only thing, then,
that remains is for us to take advantage of what He has provided. Being baptized into Christ and thus being in
tune with Him on the spiritual level. And then living / walking in the light as
He is in the light (1 John 1:7). This is the only way we can
successfully win this war.
Oh yes . . . there is one
more reality about this spiritual battle:
you have to fight. There
is no option to have a non-combat role in God’s kingdom. God will not accept spectators or conscientious
objectors. He’s looking for battle-hardened, battle-scarred soldiers. Because only those who struggle and fight to
the very end will finish the war alive (Revelation 2:10).
Doug
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