You Have Been Drafted
And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them (Josh. 22:12).
This is the time of year when we North Americans declare war on the weeds and other creatures in our backyard. It’s the time when we open our garages, sharpen those lawn mower blades, spray those lawns and generally get quite physical with the enemies in our own backyards.
Now I know some of you like dandelions in your lawns and don’t care for green spaces and some nice tomatoes, growing in your yards. But perhaps like me, you would like to see something you planted there grow up rather than things whose identity you don’t even know, claiming your green space and spreading like wildfire across your yard.
I also find my neighbours have this desire to go to war too. They don’t like anything in their yard that grows without their effort and run rampantly in every direction, stifling the “good seed.” We exchange tips on how to win the battle and take a dim view of those who let their weeds spread over the line into our yards.
There is also this unspoken credit we give to those of us who have won the battle and we hold each other in high esteem, based on the yards of victory we have successfully won and kept from our enemy Mr. Weed (the Amorites) or Mr. Crab Grass (the Philistines).
You see I give them names to remind me that the Christian life is a life of conflict and war. We win some battles and we lose some, but God has given us His promises that no weapon formed against us can prosper (Isa. 54:17).
It has also surprised me how many of God’s children still don’t get the point that God has given each of us an inheritance in Christ that starts right here, right now in the physical and also in the spiritual. We have a set position in Christ - a relationship restored to us by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
It saddens my heart every day to see how much of our blessings have been overrun by the enemy. We come to God with our complaints, weariness and hopelessness to invade our hearts and eventually we become prisoners in our own bodies.
Well, I say, “No,” in Jesus’ name! It’s time for you and I to mark out our inheritance. No matter what God has given you, make a determined effort by His Spirit to go to war with your enemy.
There are seeds of our old nature, waiting to blossom and spread in our lives like Cain, ready for our brothers and sisters to do something we find offensive and then jealousy and resentment begins to grow in our hearts.
I want to encourage you with all my heart (that’s what I do, I can’t help myself
) to get up out of your place of rest. Put on the joy of the Lord and begin to spray your atmosphere with praise and thanksgiving. The little head of an insect that you see hiding in your soil indicates that there is more of him where he came from. Don’t just say, “I can’t do anything about it. It’s too much for me or I will leave that alone because tomorrow brother or sister so and so might come around and pray for me.” No! You are able to get out there and shout, “NOT ON MY LAWN!”
It’s amazing what people will put up with when they don’t know the consequences or the end result of allowing the weeds to win the war. Let me give you some examples.
- If Adam knew that the stranger talking to Eve in his garden was his worst nightmare, I bet he would have reacted differently.
- If Cain had known that his life after the death of Abel would be one of endless wandering and looking over his shoulder, he would never have opened his heart to that spirit of the devil.
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If David had known that allowing his desire for strange flesh to go unhindered would have opened the door to Solomon and all his children to sexual deviation in the family, he would never have allowed that seed in his garden.
I could go on and on telling you of so many men down through the years. But I’m crying out to God to help us win the victory over temptations because someone else before allowed the weeds to grow and the insects to devour the land.
Your enemy’s plan is to keep you bunkered down by life so that you can’t rise up. He wants you to feel so overwhelmed by circumstances that you just can’t get up. He tells you that you don’t have the provision. He tells you that there are too many weeds. He says why bother; they are going to come back anyway.
But I’ve come to tell you that God has given you are warring Spirit of might (Isa. 11: 1-3) so get up! Rise up in the Lord to know what is yours. Make up your mind to clear your heart and live in victory not just in church, but every day of your life.
So I call you today to the battle lines. I call you to strength and honor. I call you to your destiny and power and to take your land back in Jesus’ name. You can and must!
- Apostle Anthony Nelson