August 11 -- "Rest From War"

 Today’s Reading: Joshua 11

"Rest From War"

Ecclesiastes 3:8 tells us there is "a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war, and a time for peace.” Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. “And the land had rest from war." At long last, the time for peace had come.

The purpose of all wars, is (or should be) peace.  No war should ever be perpetual.  No war should ever be started without a just cause.  And once peace has been achieved, the war should cease.  “War is the greatest plague that can afflict humanity; it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families. Any scourge is preferable to it.” Martin Luther

The Bible is very clear that all mankind is created as "Imago Dei" (in the Image of God). This alone makes all human life extremely precious and tells us that ongoing war is not God’s ideal plan for humanity.  We know from Isaiah 2:4, that in God’s future kingdom, “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” What a glorious Day that will be!

In the meantime, all followers of Christ are fighting a war.  Discipleship is always an inescapable war between the kingdom of self and the Kingdom of God.  This is a just war that we must win!  As Christians, we are in a spiritual skirmish of some sort on a daily basis. In warfare, battles are fought on different fronts, for different reasons, and with varying degrees of intensity. The same is true in spiritual warfare. Our spiritual battles and warfare are real, even though we cannot physically see the attacker.  But we can train ourselves and arm ourselves with the weapons of our warfare (truth, faith, righteousness, salvation).  This is how the battles are fought and the only way they can be won.

It is the spiritual forces of darkness that control the societies of the world.  Those forces are in conflict with God. We, as Christians, are God’s children. Thus, if the world is in conflict with God, the world is also in conflict with us.  So, fight the good fight.  Confront your enemies.  Fight to conquer that persistent sin in your life.  Fight to save the lives of the unborn.  Fight to return the fear of God to the public square.  Fight to reach the lost for Christ.

One day you will “take the whole land” and have rest from war. The Bible promises us that “the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace!” (Psalm 37:11) But that day is not today.  So fight, dear Christian, fight!