Followers of Jesus should live with a wartime mindset, but most of us are strolling through life as if we are in the greatest peace-time in history. We take spiritual things lightly and give significant weight to the physical world. It’s the most short-sighted strategy we could adopt, and the devil continues to deceive us into believing we are being smart. One thing I know for certain is no matter what comes out of the mouth of Satan, it will be a lie (John 8:44). So whatever he puts in our mind, we should do the opposite. Immediately.
We are not at peace. We are at war. Your soul, the soul of your family, and the souls of your friends are under attack. Satan wants to distract you from the truth, so he distorts it. The longer we believe we’re not living in a war zone, the harder it becomes to break out of the stupor and see the battle raging around us.
The devil doesn’t want you to live with a wartime mindset. That makes his task too difficult. He wants you to believe everything is okay. Things will work out. Just don’t rock the boat. Remember, everything he says – everything – is a lie. Satan is lulling us to sleep. He knows a direct assault won’t be effective, so he plays the long game. Perhaps his hatred for you is equaled only by his patience in seeking your demise.
You’ve heard all about how Satan hates you. But do you know why? It’s because God has made you in His image, so every time the devil looks at you, it reminds him of his utter defeat at the hand of God. Satan (Lucifer) had it all (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19). He was resplendent and enjoyed everything he could ever desire. Everything except being God. And then he dared to think he could challenge God and come away victorious. God did what God will always do. He casts sin out of His presence.
And now the battle is on. It’s Satan vs. God, ultimate evil vs. ultimate love. Every demon and angel lives in a wartime mindset. They understand the danger. They understand why they must be always diligent. Meanwhile, we are diligent for, at best, an hour once a week. Even then, we rarely grasp the ramifications and implications of being in the middle of two such opposing forces. It is uncommon to hear a message in your local church about spiritual warfare in horrific detail. We’ve been fooled into believing there’s no danger for so long that we can scarcely be motivated to pray with any hint of urgency.
We have got to wake up. The good news is God will win the war. That is foretold and written in granite. The bad news is we are in desperate danger of losing the battle for this generation of believers. We’ve allowed a milquetoast gospel into our pulpits and unrestrained compromise into our homes. We live as if tomorrow we will continue to eat, drink, and laugh, while the reality is our soul may be called to account this very evening (Luke 12:19-20).
If we don’t shake off our malaise and live with a wartime mindset today, then tomorrow may bring greater peril than we ever imagined. You can put off a serious commitment to the battle and the Lord until tomorrow, but tomorrow will never come for some of us. It will be too late. We will have wasted our life being deceived into living without urgency, without commitment, and with no regard for the commands of Christ. Don’t let that be said of you. Adopt a wartime mindset today. We have no time left to waste