September 4

When my children were small, I dreaded the summer because I had to come up with things to keep them entertained, otherwise they would drive me crazy. We didn’t allow video games in our house, so they had to find entertainment outside. I love wildlife and nature, so I picked up an Audubon book on bird, wildflower, and snake identification. By the end of the summer we had identified every weed in our yard, every bird that visited our lake, and watched a rat snake gobble up a nest of duck eggs. I had no doubts that they were well educated on nature. The rest of their time was spent playing in an old boat in the lake. Never once did I worry about the things in nature hurting them, not even the alligators; no one on our lake fed them, so they were afraid of humans. However, I’ve always been careful about other humans and what unscrupulous ideas they might have for them, but never nature. I looked out the window one day and saw Richie, our youngest, carrying a three foot alligator! I snapped a picture and made him put it back. These things were normal for my children. I didn’t raise whiny kids who were afraid of their shadow. They are warriors, able to protect and defend themselves. The point I’m getting at today is about the church. When someone says the church, your first thought might be that these people are soft and timid; but the truth is, if they are, they might need to check their salvation! The church, which is the body of Christ, is a vast weaponized army who has been trained to take on the powers and principalities of this dark world. The church is not timid, it is mighty! Jesus is our commander and He is not frail! The training of mighty warriors should begin when they are young, so like the training of my children, when they go to war, they don’t go alone, they are accompanied by our Savior, the commander of angel armies and the head of the church!

Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:21-23