A Call to Arms

October 10, 2011
Nehemiah 3, 4; Luke 23

S: Nehemiah 4:14 “And I looked and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders and to the rest of the people, ‘Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

O: Nehemiah is rallying his people against their enemies who want to destroy them and their plans to rebuild. He tells them all are needed to stand tall and fight together, to think of God and His mightiness and to put it all on the line for everything that matters.

A: Our Christian lives here on Earth are beset by a common enemy – satan himself. He perpetuates gloom and despair, he can set family and friends against one another in order to conquer and divide. The enemy wants us weak and singled out – like the wolf going after the young and weak sheep in a flock. What happens though when we stand together, when we fight for our families and friends? We become a powerful force that the enemy will have a really tough time defeating. Our differences melt away when – with our Lord’s awesomeness and might – we stand together. Just like the game we played as children – Red Rover. The game could only be won when we linked ourselves together and doubled our strength.

P: Father, your great might and power is our strength. It is our shield against a common enemy. Help us to set aside trivial differences to stand together and defeat our enemy. Amen