When Kings go to War

When I joined the Army, my recruiter told me I would be fine if I was where I was supposed to be when I was supposed to be there and in the proper uniform. If I did those three things, I would do ok in the Army.

Be where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there and in the proper uniform. That holds true for life in general. Just showing up is a good way to start being successful and keep yourself out of trouble.

What about when you don’t show up spiritually? When you don’t spend time with God in prayer, devotions, or reading your Bible. When you don’t do that thing you know God is telling you to do.

 You open the door to temptation. You open the door to compromise. You start going down a slippery slope and by the time you hit rock bottom, you look up and wonder how you could’ve fallen so far. You started going down a road that has no guardrails. It hasn’t been built to code.

You weren’t where you were supposed to be when you were supposed to be there and you were out of uniform. You took a wrong turn and lost your way.

King David took a wrong turn when he wasn’t where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be there and in the proper uniform. II Samuel 11:1 says, “It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel: and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.”

David was a king and he was supposed to be in the field with his army. You know the story. He took another man’s wife and had that man killed.

How much pain, grief, anguish and regret could have been avoided had he been where he was supposed to be? How much pain, grief, anguish and regret could have been avoided in your life if you had been where you were supposed to be when you were supposed to be there and in the proper uniform?

I know in my life I’ve had times where I’ve not been where I was supposed to be spiritually. I grew lax in reading my Bible, praying and seeking God. Those times have opened the door to temptation. It takes quite a bit of time and effort to get that door closed again. But God is there helping you and it will get closed if you start being where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there and in the proper uniform.

Ephesians 6:10-18 tells us what the proper uniform is. When we are where we’re supposed to be when we’re supposed to be there and in the proper uniform, He will teach us how to use the uniform. The proper way to wear it. We just have to show up like He did at Calvary.