August 13, 2014 Who’s on Your Frontline?
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Who is on Your Frontline?
“I’m praying for them…for those you gave me, because they are yours…
When I was with them, I watched over them in your name,
the name you gave to me, and I kept them safe.
None of them were lost, except the one who was destined for destruction,
so that scripture would be fulfilled…keep them safe from the evil one.
(John 17:9, 12, 15, NRSVUE)
Did you know that we live on the frontlines?
That’s the place where we engage in spiritual combat against the enemy. He comes to crush, destroy, or kill the love, joy, and hope in our hearts , or that of our loved ones, by wielding weapons like pride, lust, envy, anger, greed, fear, and despair, just to name a few. The enemy uses this artillery on anyone or through anything in order to oppose Christ and seek to drive a wedge between us or others and God.
Jesus lived at the frontline. He fought the enemies of the heart with all who crossed his path: the beggar at the gate, the prostitute and those who wished to stone her to death, tax collectors, the woman who interrupted him on his way to cure another, his disciples, the Pharisees who opposed his teaching, the centurions at the cross, and the crowds who called out “Hosanna” one day and “Crucify him” the next.
We, too, live at the frontline. Each day we have the opportunity to battle and defeat the enemies within our hearts or those of all who cross our path: our children and their friends, neighbors who do not have a relationship with Jesus, harried checkers at the grocery store, the bank teller with customers complaining about the wait, the waitress at the restaurant, the exhausted mom or dad at a soccer game, or any number of individuals we may bump into over the course of our daily activities.
We live at the frontlines. As Paul, asked his protégé Timothy, “Guard what has been entrusted to you.” To fulfill our God-given mission, expect to battle daily the spiritual enemies of our hearts and those of whom God entrusts to us.
Be still and Reflect: Who specifically is on your frontline? How will you guard each one entrusted to you?
Pray: Lord God, work mightily within me on my frontline. Enable me to support other Christians on theirs so that the people around us may all experience the transforming love found in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.
By His Grace,
Gloria Ashby