"Hold fast that word which I preached to you...take heed to yourself and to the doctrine...hold fast to the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me...put on the whole armor of God...pursue righteousness...fight the good fight." God's Word, through Paul's letters, contains stirring exhortations. Some people take these words and feel good because these are "motivational" words, but we ought to meditate on the weight of such language.
God's Word reveals that historically, His people have failed repeatedly to honor Him and the Covenant which He has made. Whole groups of people have forsaken God for idols and many men of the Scriptures were found unfaithful in the end. I heard in a recent message that over 340 biographical accounts are provided in the Bible, and only 62 people finished strong. The accounts of the kings of Israel record a fearful epitaph for too many men, "and he did evil in the sight of the Lord."
When we are motivated by God's Word, we need to be moved to a very real resolve. We need to stand up and determine that we will not forsake our God. The people of God need to be stirred to a deeper level of courage to march forward in the day of battle and heed our great Commander!
In a relatively recent movie portraying the life of William Wallace of Scotland, a film called "Braveheart," viewers are stirred to serious disdain when supposed allies of Wallace turn away in the midst of a battle and do not fight when they are called upon. We are stirred because it is easy for us to see the wickedness of those men when they were not faithful to their word with Wallace.
Psalm 78 refers to the account of the Ephraim people behaving similarly, "The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle." The passage goes on to say, "They did not keep the covenant of God; they refused to walk in His law, and forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them."
Covenant-breakers are said to have turned back in the day of battle. That should stir us to even greater disdain than did the movie of a man in Scotland. The cause for which Christians are called is greater than the freedom of the Scottish people.
When we read of or watch movies about old wars like the Civil War, we see troops as they prepare for a fierce battle and they are marching across the field to meet their enemy. The field commander gives a command to march at the double-quick, or twice as fast. Our heart pounds with the intensity of the moment as we realize that the battle is on, the troops are engaged, there is no turning back now. I have to imagine that moving toward the enemy with greater speed instantly squashed any thoughts of retreat in the minds of those men.
And we too as Christians, not only act with decisiveness and march forward in obedience to commands, we engage vigorously in the battle and trust God for the ultimate victory.
Long live the one, true King!
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