Fighting the Good Fight of Faith

FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race , I have kept the faith.” 2 Tim 4:7

I accepted Christ as my Savior , Lord , and eternal “Commanding Officer” late in my
military career but as I began to read the Bible I was immediately struck by how familiar
I was from my military experience with much of the Biblical terminology and concepts.
It was almost as if God gave military personnel a running start to help them quickly ”get
up to speed “ on the Christian life. Bible terms like “duty”,” honor”, “sacrifice”
“responsibility” , “hardship” and “discipline” are also a major part of all military
training and heritage.

Now after having been a “Christian soldier” for almost twenty years I have continued to realize that even though the spiritual battle is against a different enemy, the mindset and approach to defeating Satan is similar to defeating a military foe. Just like no warrior would think of going into battle unarmed , barefoot dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, I have learned how I need to put on the armor of God every day for the spiritual battles that I will face (Ephesinas 6).

This means putting on the sturdy belt of truth , the body armor of God’s righteousness, the special shoes of peace that comes from the Good News ,a shield of faith , a helmet of salvation, and armed with the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God . In short , I need to be dressed for battle in order to withstand the devil’s schemes.

Another similarity I have found between the spiritual life and the military is the
heritage of heroes and role models. Just like men and women who have distinguished
themselves militarily , the Bible has an honor roll celebrating heroes of the faith
(Hebrews 11) ... people like Noah , Abraham , Sarah , Moses and Rahab , and then there
are the hundreds of “unknown soldiers “ and unsung heroes .Men and women who
carried a message , spoke an encouraging word, or simply prayed .

Yes there are certainly lots of similarities but there is at least one very important
difference . That is on how one can qualify to be a Christian soldier . While not everyone
can qualify for the military due to testing , physical issues , past records , etc there are no such qualifications to becoming a Christian. Becoming a Christian soldier is open to anyone who is willing to accept the free gift of salvation , to put off the old man and to get in step with his plan for your life.. The Lord desires any man who will stand in the gap on His behalf (Ez 22:30). The question is : will you be that man? -- Tom Day is a minister in Memphis, TN and a friend and supporter of the men of the Colony of Mercy.

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 19; Genesis 46-48; Matthew 17:1-30

Great Quote: I want the whole Christ for my Saviour, the whole Bible for my book, the whole Church for my fellowship, and the whole world for my mission field. John Wesley