Spiritual Warfare

First, I just want to say thanks again for your support -- particularly for your prayers -- over the past couple of months. It has been a difficult time and, unfortunately for our extended family, the challenges continue.

In times like these it is natural for us, at least temporarily, to give more serious thought to things like our mortality, our priorities, and our legacy. It is sobering to think that some day each of our lives will likely be summarized in a relatively brief eulogy and perhaps a slide show of photographs from some of our more meaningful, or at least pleasant, moments on the earth.

Perhaps it is because this is the current subject of our Wednesday night class, but as I have thought through some of these issues in my own life it has occurred to me how each relates to "spiritual warfare." In his second letter to Timothy, Paul writes: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." 2 Timothy 4:6-8 (KJV)

The fight that Paul talks about, of course, is not a physical one -- although Paul certainly had his share of unwanted physical altercations! Paul's real fight, and the one we all really face, is spiritual. For this reason, we are told to "[p]ut on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:11-12 (KJV)

As Christians, our legacy depends on how we fight this fight. And fighting the good fight largely comes down to our priorities.

During his "Christian phase," Bob Dylan (yes, that Bob Dylan -- guitar poet, voice of a generation, hippie guru) said in one of his songs (the title escapes me) "you either got faith or you got unbelief, there ain't no neutral ground". I totally agree that is true about faith -- you either have it or you don't -- and I believe it is largely true about our priorities. How we use our time, our gifts and our resources either serves God or it serves the enemy. I just don't see a lot of neutral ground there.

In this sense, the spiritual battle is inward.  It is about understanding who God is and what he desires for our lives.  It is about preparing ourselves for the fight daily through prayer and the study of His word.  It is about putting our study and meditation into action -- doing our best to live a Godly life and not a worldly life.

And, a big part of that inward battle is understanding that the enemy has so many weapons at his disposal.  Even the most innocuous of things -- television, an interest in sports, computers, or an interest in politics -- can be used to distract us, to mislead us and, ultimately, to destroy us.  It is not that any of these things, or the countless other things that the enemy uses, are inherently evil.  Just as our fight is not against flesh, it is not against television, sports, computers or politics.  It is against the dark forces that can use those things to do us spiritual, and sometimes physical, harm.

I am certainly not suggesting that we should give up any of these things.  I am just saying that God needs to come first.  Let's prepare ourselves for the fight, and not let the enemy use these "things" to take our focus off of the real prize.