The Fight Is On!

It's Friday AM and I am profoundly aware of how real the cosmic spiritual battle really is today. It's not that there is a huge spiritual battle raging within me today, but rather this spiritual reality that I (along with all other Christ followers) are in a war against the Evil One and his armies.

Even though I am one who has grown up in the church, I must confess that I don't usually spend much time throughout any given week focusing on the fact that we are daily engaged in a battle for the hearts and minds of people where eternal consequences are at stake. I know it doesn't sound real spiritual coming from a pastor, but life gets busy and the details of a day can consume all of us. Plus, it is much nicer to think about being a child of God who is a joint heir with Jesus enjoying life with my brothers and sisters in Christ. I also have no doubt that this is closely tied to the fact that we live in relative comfort here in North America and only give thought to these types of things when global or personal tragedy hit and the normacy of our weeks is disrupted.

So... what does all this mean? Well, if I am in Christ's army, here are a few realities I must be willing to accept as I live out my life in Him and for Him.

• I will be confronted with the reality of causalities along the way.
• I will most likely be wounded multiple times along the way where periods of healing are needed.
• I will be scared at times as there is nothing pretty about war.
• I will be asked to follow my general (Jesus Christ) into battles and I will have to choose whether or not I will obey.
• I will be asked to give up some of my earthly comforts so as to contribute and be a part of making an eternal difference in, through and for Christ.
• I will be asked to trust my general (Jesus Christ) even though I don't know what the immediate outcome of a particular battle strategy may be.
• I need to be OK with giving my very earthly life for my general (Jesus Christ).
• I need to be OK with using all of my resources (gifts, family, money, time etc...) for the cause.

I believe the list could go on, but the reality is that I need to be willing to face all of the above mentioned with great confidence because the outcome of this overall war has already been determined. Jesus has overcome and death has been defeated. War is ugly and the day to day battles leave us bruised, battered and weary at times, but the victory that is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord makes it all worth it. The fight is on... let's keep on keeping on for Jesus!!!