Forsaking The Civilian Life

2 Timothy 2:3-4 “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”

Can a soldier have his whole body in a battle when his heart is at home? Dear soul, the Church of today has allowed too many weekend warriors. They are plastic soldiers, those that go to church faithfully, pay their tenth, sing all the songs, and amen the preacher in the right spots. Then throughout the week they may start their day off with a short prayer and a small bible reading. They never hurt anybody, and will be glad to help people when they run across them, but although not wrong in actions, they are not fully right either. They have become comfortable with the middle grounds of religion with a small dose of the spiritual occasionally. They are what we can call just downright good ol folks but not living in the fullness of the spiritual relm.

I have only two points to make today, one a statement and the second a question. My statement; the reason that these people are no more than weekend warriors and plastic soldiers is simply because they have not forsaken the civilian life fully to God yet. One has a tendency, (often myself included) after hearing a statement as I have just made, to say “I can’t always live in the spiritual life as a soldier. I have a right to the happiness of this world as much as anybody else. To continually live in the spiritual is absurd and impossible.” Beloved, we are not to be citizens of this present life, but to be soldiers of Christ. We are not called to live the civilian life around us, but we are called to be present citizens of a life much higher in elevation. The only way we can be citizens of Heaven now is to be a soldier of Christ. And the only way to be a true soldier is to forsake the life of a civilian. The fact is Christ has called you to live in His spiritual life continually. He has called you to forsake your dreams of, release your grip on, and walk away from this life of a civilian. You must “endure hardness” and “fight this good fight of faith”. You cannot be a true warrior in battle while being tangled with the life of the civilian. You must fight your heart out, and leave the civilian life in Gods care and control. This is what faith truly is; the casting of one’s total character and destiny to the feet of Christ while being fully convinced that He will perform His most blessed will in you, through you, and for you. You must have faith, and forsake. These are two of the greatest words in the Christian life. Have faith that He will perform the best for both you and Him, all the while forsaking the civilian life you have grown so accustomed to. Don’t settle for the weekend warrior life, for that life will not be pleased in the end. You must bear the fruit of the Spirit filled life, for hell is the only true payment of mere religion.

Do note you are either a soldier or a civilian. To be both is to live a double standard life, and in effect to be “unstable in all” your ways. This now brings me to my question. If we can only be a soldier or a civilian, and realizing that all civilian lives are those that are flesh filled and not Heaven bound, which position are you living in …Soldier… or Civilian?...