It seems a million years since I heard my father tell stories from his service days in WWII (he passed away in 1973). These were strictly ‘stories from the good times.’ To this day the British Commonwealth motto: “For God, King, and Country” brings forth both pride and sadness in my heart. Dad, and so many others around the world, left home and country to ensure that tyranny would not invade our shores. I owe the freedoms I have enjoyed all my life to those men and women who gave up their freedoms. Civilian life would never be the same for them.
Christians have signed up to a spiritual war. This war also costs lives. For some, confessing “Jesus is Lord!” is a death sentence. The rest of us are involved in a desperate ‘cold war.’ Desperate because Judgement Day is coming. The Day when Jesus’ Evangelistic Amy – His church – will cease their good fight for the souls of men, and all men will give account before God. Satan, our merciless enemy, fights to deceive. Look within, and ask: “How effective has Satan been at distracting me?” The answer lies in that which concerns you. Too many worries about material things and unfulfilled desires crowd out the peace of Christ.
That peace that enlivens the spirit and motivates you to seek the welfare of your neighbour’s soul. Paul says: “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier”(2Tim.2:4).We are soldiers who have rejected the citizenship that this world offers, and “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them” (Heb.11:16).Our war against the forces of darkness is demanding. Focus is a life and death thing. Our focus is upon our God who sent His Son to defeat Satan. This Jesus who is Lord of lords, and King of kings. Our true country – heaven – is that which is before us, and our fight is for the souls of men. Let us take up our weapon, The Sword of the Spirit – The Bible. With it, let us destroy Satan’s strongholds. With it, let us go forth: For God, King and Country!+
John Staiger
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