1 Corinthians 15:58 (NIV)
"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
A theme that is being emphasized at my church for 2020 is engaging. There's been talk how now is the time to get more involved with God's grand plans. Hearing about this motivated me to look deeper into what it means to engage. The first definition I found showed me something I hadn't thought about before. According to Merriam-Webster, engage means " to offer (something, such as one's life or word) as backing to a cause or aim : to expose to risk for the attainment or support of some end." The example the site used was "engaged his all in the king's cause." Can we as Christians say that we are engaging our all in our king's cause?
Looking at the Merriam-Webster example called to my mind the image of a knight. Often when we think about knights we probably think to a medieval caricature. We see shiny armor, a glistening sword, and a sturdy shield. The reality is that knighthood did not start looking like that. Bare with me here as I share some random knighthood facts that I learned in college. It relates to what I'm sharing. I promise I will tie all this together. The majority of knights starting out were not picturesque looking. They were mostly peasants who served a lord to gain land. They were too poor to afford the expensive equipment required. Due to the low funds, these new knights' social status were much closer to their former peasant status than the powerful lords they served. Robbers, mercenaries, peasants, and rich professionals all served in knighthood, and there was a great deal of social inequality between them. (How about that? A Medieval History class I treated as a blow-off is having a pay off.)
Alright so as promised, I will tie it all together. There are several instances in the Bible that likens Christians unto soldiers (like knights). 1 Timothy 6:12 says: "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses." Ephesians 6:10-18 talks about putting on the whole armor of God. While the original knights had great deals to pay for their armor, Jesus already paid the price of our salvation on the cross. As Christians, the entire armory of God is at our disposal free of extra charge. As God's children, through His blood we are viewed as righteous and royalty. All of the great promises of God are made available to us. There is a simple condition for these promises. We are only accountable for obeying God. This means faithfully serving His mission.
The time for serving that mission is now. This is because the God we serve is the God of the now. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says that God searches the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whom love Him. He is someone who wants to bless us now! Immediately. Without delay. There's plenty of Scripture that talks about God as the God of the now.
1 Corinthians 12:27 (NIV): "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
2 Corinthians 3:17 (NIV): "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
Hebrews 11:1 (NIV): "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
Now is the time to stand firm. Now is the time let nothing shake us. Now is the time to get to work. God has made available to us every tool necessary to be victorious. As knights in Christ we can go to war with the assurance that the battle is already won. There's stuff we have allowed to have reign inside of us for far too long. Now is the time to engage all areas of our lives for Christ. It's time to start our reign in Christ.
For further reading: 2 Peter 1:1-10