DAILY DEVOTIONAL – November 7, 2019
“Strong and Courageous”
Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are our Conquering Hero. We have no strength or courage apart from You. By Your grace and Spirit Lord, keep us firm and steadfast in true faith and unto life everlasting. Amen.
Scripture: Deuteronomy 31:6-8
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Devotional – “Strong and Courageous”
An unfortunate reality of our sinful and broken world is that history has been largely shaped by war and conquest. Looking back on history, it could be argued that warriors on the battlefield have proven more influential in shaping history than political power and royal rulers. The Akkadians, the Spartans, the Romans and so many other cultures and societies in the past were defined by war and warrior culture. Some would argue that though we mask it well, even our modern society and culture is a culture of war. Our sinfulness as a humanity is easily seen through our history plagued with war and violence.
God created us in peace and for peace, and God hates violence and bloodshed. It was the rampant violence and wickedness on earth that caused God to send the flood in Noah’s time. Genesis 6 tells us, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.”
Instead of wiping out all of humanity as they deserved, God chose the one righteous man He could find, Noah, and saved Noah and his family, cleansed the earth with the flood and delivered Noah through the ark. God didn’t intend the flood to rid mankind of all its sins, but instead clear a path for God to bring about His plan and promise of salvation. God in His mercy and patience helped protect His chosen people Israel when war was brought upon them by surrounding nations who hated them and hated God. God even used Israel as a nation and army to continue to exercise His judgement and discipline on a humanity that has long tried to rid themselves of the true God. However, God would not let the wickedness and violence of the world nullify His promise of peace and salvation; a promise that was fulfilled in the Son of God coming into our world and putting on flesh so that He might fight for us and defeat the real enemy of sin and death and the devil; not by waging war as sinful humanity does, but instead by becoming a servant of all and a sacrifice for all as He gave up His life on the cross in our place. As John tells us in chapter 1 of his Gospel, speaking of Jesus our Lord who is God in the flesh, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
When it comes to the history of America, few warrior tribes and cultures are more iconic than that of The Cheyenne Indians of the 1800s. The Cheyenne lived on the Great Plains of the United States and had six warrior societies that were the foundation of its life together. The most feared and famous of these warrior tribes was that of the Dog Soldiers. English journalist Henry Stanley who followed and documented these Dog warriors, described them as the “Spartans of the plains.” Each Dog soldier wore as part of their battle attire a sash-rope around their waste which they called a “dog rope.” Tied to the end of the dog rope was a sharp pointed metal stake called a picket pin. Picket pins were most typically used to tether a horse in one place so that they could graze without wandering off or running away. The picket pin would be driven deep into the ground and then the rope attached to it would be tied to the horse.
The reason the Dog Soldiers wore a dog rope and picket pin, however, had nothing to do with their horse. They used it as a courageous and strategic part of combat. In the event that the Dog Soldiers needed to retreat in battle, each soldier would take turns driving their picket pin into the ground and tying the rope to themselves. Each soldier was required to remain there alongside some of his other roped Dog Soldiers and continue to ward off the enemy while their remaining soldiers made a hasty retreat – even if that meant death was the price of securing their comrades safety. Groups of Dog Man soldiers would take turns doing this until all the Dog Men reached safety or were wiped out entirely. Each Dog Man soldier was only allowed to pull his pin from the ground and retreat if his companions reached safety or another Dog Soldier released him from his duty to take his place.
You know friends, we are all in the midst of an epic battle – the battle for our souls. As Paul says in Ephesians 6, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
As brave and courageous as the Dog Soldiers of the Cheyenne were, their sacrifice was no guarantee that their people or tribe would survive. Not only that, but even if today we were able to have legion upon legion of Dog Soldiers fighting by our side, they would be of absolutely no value in the ultimate spiritual battle we fight each day. No person or power on this earth is capable of conquering their own sinful nature and certainly not capable of overpowering the devil. There is only One who has not only the power, but who also has the grace and self-sacrificial love required to defeat sin, death and devil. That One is the Son of God Himself, and the Good News of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ has come and has conquered death by dying in our place, and has won for us forgiveness and salvation by taking upon Himself the wrath of God and rising again from the dead in order to secure our place in God’s presence for eternity.
Our hope cannot be found in the courage or sacrifice of any soldier of men. We need not Dog Men, but The God Man – The God Man Jesus Christ. In complete obedience and faithfulness to the gracious will of God His Father, Jesus carried His own cross…His own stake…and drove it deep into the ground atop Mt. Calvary. While Jesus could have easily called down legions of warrior angels to come to His rescue, He didn’t. Instead, Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be nailed to that cross in our place and for our sins against God. Christ’s death is our victory by the grace of God through faith in Jesus. His resurrection is the defeat of sin and death and the assurance of our eternal life after death in the presence of God.
Until that wonderful and glorious day when we see Christ face to face, either when this short and fleeting life comes to an end or when we see Jesus return in all of His glory to bring us home, we are called to stand firm in the faith and fight the good fight and be courageous in our pursuit of righteousness for His name’s sake. On our own, we will lose this daily battle of faith, but we are NOT alone! Christ is Risen and is with us. We fight and stand firm in the power of His Word which is the sword of righteousness we hold in our hands. Christ is our Rock and salvation, He is the solid ground into which we drive our own stake and holdfast to Him in faith, even in death, for we have the sure hope that death is not the end but an eternal beginning because of Christ’s sacrifice for us.
Our Lord leads us each day as our Lord and Master and Commander. We follow Him wherever He leads and gladly give up all things for the sake of knowing Him and living this life in loving service to Him. He is our only victory. He is our strength and courage to fight on.
As our text from Deuteronomy says for today, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you…The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Fight the good fight of faith my friends knowing that victory is and will be ours in Christ Jesus our Lord, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
