Remembrance Day

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. . . .  And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. (Hebrews 12:3–13)

In Canada, today is called Remembrance Day. In the USA, it is Veterans Day. I read a full-page story of one soldier and how the war he fought in affected him. I’ve given quilts to soldiers through Quilts of Velour, read the novels of Charles Todd with vivid descriptions of WWI, heard the true stories of those who served, and can hardly compare any of that with the parallel above between physical war and being disciplined by God. However, being in the armed forces is certainly a way to become disciplined!

The Bible says this: a good soldier focuses on serving those who enlisted him as a Christian focuses on serving the Lord. That is, Christians are being subjected to hardships and trials with the understanding that God is using them to teach us to be holy. Most of the time I get the part of not being entangled in civilian pursuits which relates to the effort needed to focus on the will of God rather than worldly desires:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15–17)

If my main ambition is to have a fancy house, lots of money, stylish wardrobe, lots of important people in my contact list, etc. then I’m not a good soldier for Jesus. Those desires diminish the desire to glorify Jesus and tell others about Him.

Spiritual warfare is the battle with my spiritual enemy who would rather I live to do anything but love and serve the Lord. Trials are often events that make serving God seem difficult and worldliness appear far more interesting yet God uses them to show me how wrong thinking robs me of His love, joy, peace and even assurance of His goodness. He says:

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. (2 Timothy 2:8–13)

Wounded soldiers miss the action. AWOL soldiers also miss it, and miss being transformed by the Holy Spirit into people who are like Jesus. Those who fight with the desire to free their country and its people from tyranny resemble believers who battle darkness and the lies of Satan to advance the kingdom of God.

Jesus, the analogies may not be perfect, but when You use a battle to show me my errors I know that You are motivated by Your love for me and Your desire that others are set free from the oppression of sin because I am loving and fighting for them. And today I weep for those who lost their lives to preserve our freedoms.