In the Midst of the Battle

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
 

Dear Friends and Members of IBC,

On Sunday, I mentioned about Christians needing to realise that we are in the middle on an all-out spiritual war, and to find our band of fellow soldiers who we can fight the good fight of faith with.

Today I have been thinking (and experiencing) how distracted (and anxious) I can easily be, and how the Devil can easily make use of the internet to fire one of his favourite, modern-day flaming arrows at us – distraction. Quick access to information is often helpful, but the sheer amount of information that is available online, the speed at which we can access it, and the addictive nature of these glowing screens means that we are easily taken out of the ongoing spiritual battle.

Let’s make no bones about it, the Devil wants to keep us Christians either sleepy, in spiritual bondage, fearful, or distracted. Preferably all four.

So, what might we do? Well, firstly, we do what Paul instructs us in Ephesians 6:16 – we take up the shield of faith with which we can extinguish those flaming arrows. We repent for where we have tried to take things into our own hands, for our lack of faith, and then we look to the One who has cast out all fear, who has even given us a Spirit that doesn’t make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).

And we obey what both Jesus and Paul tell us to do: we intentionally, deliberately, set our minds on things above. Jesus called Peter a hindrance (!) to Him because when he rebuked Jesus about going to the cross, Peter wasn’t setting his mind on the things of God, but on the things of man (Matthew 16:23). And Paul similarly urges us to set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth (Colossians 3:2). We have a choice. We are not slaves to what we feel we must set our minds on, but every minute, of every day, we can choose to set our minds on Jesus, who has set us free. Free from distraction.

God bless you
James