Are you in the Christian army?

Luke 12:35-40

Have you ever investigated the motto or creed of the U.S. Soldier?  “I am an American Soldier.  I am a Warrior and a member of a team.  I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.  I will always place the mission first.  I will never accept defeat.  I will never quit.  I will never leave a fallen comrade.  I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and battle drills.  I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.  I am an expert and I am a professional.  I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.  I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.  I am an American Soldier.”

That is a new creed for the army it was adopted around 2003, not the one that was in place when I served.   As we look at Luke 12:35-40, where Jesus is addressing you and me on being ready for action, how do you see yourself, are you in the Christian army?  If so, do you have a creed?  Ponder these words of Jesus; “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.  (Luke 12:35-37 ESV)  I bet you were not ready for that the Lord is going to serve those He finds awake and ready.

 Do you see yourself as a Warrior, a member of a team, do you serve others in regards to creeds Jesus has laid out in the Handbook on Life?  Do you as a soldier in Christ’s army know your mission and put it first, are you disciplined physically and mentally by renewing your mind and putting Scripture to memory?  Are you awake and ready at your place of service, and ready to engage the enemy of our Lord?  Are you a guardian of the truth and freedom we have in Christ Jesus?  If the answer is yes, you are on the front lines and ready to serve, but if the answer is no, you have left a hole in the battle lines, and you are the only one who can fill the role of service God has assigned to you.

Our Lord is a warrior, and all who have entered into Him and He in them have entered the Christian army.  If you have doubt about the Lord Jesus being a warrior, turn to Exodus 15:3, “The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name.”

Questions come to my mind each time I hear the song “Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war.”  When you hear that song, what comes into your mind, what kind of army is this Christian army, is it mighty, and is it victorious, does it have mighty warriors?  And if it is not mighty, if it is not victorious, and if it does not have mighty warriors, what is the reason?

Going back to Luke 12:38-40, “If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”  My fellow soldiers, are you ready and awake in your place in the line of battle?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice