It’s On

It’s On!

Battling Through the New Year

Deuteronomy 7:1-5

 

Everyone is used to pleasantries as “Best Wishes and a Happy New Year” and desire a New Year without incident, cruising through the New Year without stress, pain or strife.  But Solomon’s wisdom in Ecclesiastes notes that there is “a time of peace and a time of war.”  As God called the Israelites to war against the Canaanite nations, He is calling us to battle against the forces of the Enemy, often acting within our minds and against our spirits.

There Are God-Directed Confrontations. God specified the 7 very powerful Canaanite nations Israel was to utterly destroy.  God directed Israel to confront the wicked in their path, and He is directing us to stand against the great and powerful evils in our way.  Unfortunately, people are spending time texting, tweeting and updating their Facebook pages on the minutia of their lives, but no time witnessing about God’s saving grace through Jesus.  They would rather concentrate on raising themselves rather than standing against what appear to be powerful forces against God and His Kingdom.

Concessions Are Deadly. The ancient Israelites compromised by enslaving some of the Canaanite nations rather than obeying God to completely destroy them.  That disobedience resulted in Israel’s moral decay and decline into idolatry, leading to their ultimate judgment and destruction as a nation.  Moral compromises are deadly to Christian life, and the evidence is clear in our society’s decline.

There Is No Early Retreat Or Withdrawal. God finishes what He starts and we are to do the same.  The consequences of quitting before the defeat of the enemy, whether in ourselves, our families or in the society, leads to the enemy’s resurgence and our eventual harm.