War
n.
1.
a. A state of open, armed, often prolonged conflict carried on between nations, states, or parties.
b. A concerted effort or campaign to combat or put an end to something considered injurious
c. The techniques and procedures of war; military science
For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12
Everyday you awake until you go to sleep, and in fact even as you a sleep, there’s a war going on. This is not a war in the assumed sense of the word. There are no tanks and no firearms or bombs; however, this war is just as deadly as any modern day war and the consequences of losing this war are much greater. This is the war is for your heart and mind.
You wake up in the morning switch on the TV and instantly you are bombarded with advertisements telling you how you can improve yourself. Dictating to you whether or not you are significant and outlining numerous criteria you must fall into, in order to be regarded as ‘cool’ and ‘acceptable’. You are not encouraged to make your own decisions or even think, you are told to be a follower, to blend in, you are told to be a sheep.
You move from the TV to the wardrobe, where you put on your clothes and get dressed for the day. Your choice of clothing is just another uniform or label that the culture you live in can use to put you into a box and pigeon hole your existence. As you leave the house you plug in your I-pod and listen to various artists speak of loving someone and cheating on them in the very same song… you have not even got to the bus stop yet.
The war is for your heart and mind. The Bible teaches us that we are not just flesh and bone, but we are also soul and spirit. Our soul is simply who we really are underneath our skin. It consists of things like our thoughts and feelings, and our loves and fears. Essentially what we are talking about is our heart and mind. The Bible also teaches that when our bodies die, our soul lives on. When Jesus walked the earth He posed a very deep and real question concerning the soul…
“And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?” Matthew 16:26
Jesus was challenging His listeners to stop for a moment and put aside all the distractions of life and ask themselves a very important question. “When I die, what condition will my soul be in and where will it go?” To put it simply you enter the world with nothing and essentially you will leave it with nothing, accept your eternal soul. So Jesus is saying that it is important that the soul is looked after and its destiny secured.
The reality is that there is a war waging between Love and Evil, between God and Satan. They are both fighting for our hearts and minds; they are fighting for our eternal souls. There are so many things that this world poses to us as freedom, but the truth is they are just another set of ropes for us to get tangled up in and distracted with. God wants to set us free from the chains this world is so quick to lock around our wrists. You have a choice, Jesus said…
"Your eye is a lamp for your body. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul. But an evil eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. If the light you think you have is really darkness, how deep that darkness will be! Matthew 6:22-23
Jesus is not calling us to lock ourselves indoors, shut off our sound systems and live a life of solitude and extreme censorship. He is calling us to be authentic in love and action, to make informed choices and to no longer live in ignorance of the war that is being fought in the spiritual realm. Ultimately He is offering us a life with Him and He says ‘Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls’ Matthew 11:29. The other options available, baying for our souls attention and devotion, are quick-fix distractions that inevitably lead to unrest and darkness.
If we stop for a moment and really take a look at the world and our day-to-day routine, it becomes all too obvious there is a war going on, the war for your soul. You are faced with a choice; either face it alone and become a slave to your efforts and the matrix. Or turn around and run shamelessly into the arms of Jesus.
Provision provided by: McGladius
See veritas section
