Men -Time to Lead

By Russ Ward

During the past couple of weeks in doing the readings in The Story Bible Study and the corresponding passages from the Bible in the books of Joshua and Judges, it really should have hit home and inspired us men.  We saw Joshua preparing and leading the people of Israel from conquest to conquest. Then we read about the one-time coward Gideon that manned up enough to tear down his father’s idols and then take on a hoard of Midianites, several hundred thousand, with just 300 special-forces troops.

We learned about Samson killing hundreds of Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey and crushing more of them under the walls of their party palace as he pushed it down.  Also, don’t forget lowly ox herder Shamgar who took out 600 enemies of Israel with a long pointy stick and my favorite of all the Judges, Ehud the left-hand assassin, stabbing fat old King Eglon and then leaving him to die in humiliation in the bathroom.  

When I read stories like that from the Bible, I am inspired, but I can’t help but wonder if it would be easier for a guy to take the bull by the horns and kick some rear end or to do the things that we know we are called to do day in and day out as Christian men.  Every day we are to get up, provide spiritual leadership for our families, pray, read the word, study, tell others about Christ, connect with fellow Christians and listen to and be guided by the Spirit. Now that is tough. 

And there is no physical, short-term adventure to keep us pumped up like Arnold Schwarzenegger in a cheesy action movie.  The war we are engaged in is a long grind and it is largely against unseen forces that are battling us tooth and nail for the very soul of our families, our church and our community.  In the spiritual world, there are no AK-47s, no grenade launchers, no tanks, no bullets and no knives.  In physical battles we fight on our feet; in spiritual battle often times we have to fight from our knees.  

But, make no mistake we are in a battle. It is a spiritual war we must wage and to pull off the victory we must be leaders of our families like Joshua, be willing to quit being a coward like Gideon, have the strength and devotion to our beliefs like Samson, have the desire regardless of who we are and what we do to fight for Christ like Shamgar and be wise like Ehud. 

In this fight we, as Christian men, are called to serve Lord and be devoted to him through our daily lives not in a one-time flurry of fisticuffs.  And now it is time to join the battle and man up. Joshua put it this way. “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15

But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD! Join the fight serve the Lord.