The Battle and the Death

This weekend was spent in Clearwater at their inaugural 'Great Canadian Music Explosion', not a bad idea, but given that it was the first it made for some rather slow moments. I don't think that I have ever sat as much as I did this weekend.

What this weekend did allow for was some quality time reading John Eldridge's Wild at Heart for the second time. It was a good opportunity to reevaluate my progress and pick up some more 'nuggets' (really good definition of nuggets here) regarding the battle over my own struggles and such. There were a couple of things that really stood out for me. The first was a simple line in the book, and yet has such a huge implication in the deeper meaning... 'every man is a warrior inside. But the choice to fight is his own'. I think that this struck me so much in the fact that I so often choose not to battle the struggles that I have. I choose not to 'step up to the plate' on so many occasions, and have settled for comfortability rather than delighting in the struggle of a situation to fully develop my faith. Through this line and some of the other points made in the book, I began to think of Band of Brothers a book by Steve Ambrose and made into a HBO series by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. The part that stood out from this movie is a seasoned veteran telling a new recruit to come to terms with the fact that in essence, he is already dead, to get over the fear and accept the reality of the situation. This small portion of the movie had such a significant impact on my thoughts. Think about it... in essence we are the walking dead. We have eternal life through the salvation of Jesus Christ, we will continue on long after the flesh passes away! Why then should we fear the world's condemnation? Why should we fear the battles and the struggles that God allows to come before us? To gain life, should we not be willing to lose it? A thought:

You're already dead; accept it, then seek a life lived in a spirit of furious indifference to it; you must desire life like water and yet drink death like wine (Wild at Heart with some personal additions)

Courage, and the willingness to choose to fight the battles that will ultimately shape us into stronger men, comes from being willing to die. To put your life, your reputation, your comforts on the line! To allow GOD to fill every part of your being and to submit to his most awesome plan!

A final verse of encouragement:

Since Jesus went through everything that you're going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you will be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want. (1 Peter 4:1-2 The Message //Remix)