War has been declared. Battle lines drawn. Armaments ready and terribly able. Troops on highest alert. To fight who? Where? What’s its cause?

No, not traditional warfare, but something with spiritual roots. It’s a battle we Christians can sense heading to our shores. Other earthly regions have been in the thick of it as if forever. I’m referring to the fight to follow faithfully our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and God’s Word, as found in the Bible.

It’s never easy to take an unpopular stand for our Lord. And you know what those issues are at the moment. Where we could compromise to better fit in. To avoid criticism and ostracism from family, friends, and even the church. In many ways, we are up against a wall. Either take a stand or be pushed over it.

St. Paul in 2 Corinthians makes a bold statement that we need to hear–‘We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…’ (2 Cor. 10: 5). Is this too out of reach? Impossibly unrealistic? To put Christ at the forefront?

If so, hotfoot it to boot camp. Open your Bible and dig in. Deep, deeper, deepest. And when you note something that’s contrary to modern culture (and it won’t take you very long to land on some doozies!), then decision time knocks at your door. Who will you let in? The Lord Jesus? Or an ungodly society? Which will it be?

Take every thought captive. Make a prisoner of what has violated God’s ways. Lock it up and throw away the key. Now I know that this is no easy-peasy business, and that I fail as much as the next; but, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the fact remains that we’re in a battle. Christian author C. S. Lewis says that we believers have been parachuted behind enemy lines. Hostile territory requires us to be on high alert. Dangers lurk everywhere, even in the safest of places.

This is no Mickey Mouse business. It’s real. Get ready. Take sides. Battle on. Weary not. Read the last book in your Bible to see how tough life can become, but also note who wins the final battle and war. Any guesses?

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for victories in your name. And all for your sake. Amen.