By Minister Terry Melancon
I remember as a kid growing up there were times when other kids would challenge you to a fight. Some kid in school or in the neighborhood would come to you and place a stick on his shoulder and dare you to knock it off. The premise was for you to knock it off and that would start the fight. If you didn’t knock it off, it showed that you were afraid.
For whatever reason you didn’t knock the stick off, you were called “chicken” in the neighborhood, and it eventually got to school. All the kids at school would mock you from that day forward. Not to be made fun of a decision had to be made, you either stood your ground and fought or you backed away and you were known as a coward.
Today in society, that same game is being played. Everyone that isn’t a believer in Jesus Christ is daring you to knock that stick off. Everything we know to be pure and holy based upon Biblical principles are being challenged. As believers we’re being told that we better not knock that stick off.
People are afraid to speak out against things that are not right. The truth has always been the truth no matter how you look at it. But when you speak the truth according to the word of God, you’re persecuted for it. Jesus said “if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belong to the world, (living according to the world’s standards) it would love you as its own. As it is you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” John 15:18-19
We must keep knocking the stick off because we are in a fight for the salvation of our families, friends and others, and time is getting short. This nation was founded on the principles by which we stand. Our money says, “In God we Trust.” Other countries looked up to us because we lived by moral values and principles, a standard set by God.
We can’t afford to step back or give in because of the pressure to knock the stick off. Look at society today: murder, rape, drive-by shootings, violent crimes, disrespect for others, political unrest, lawlessness everywhere you turn. Movies are so filled with everything but decency, and with sexual overtones, profanity, same sex relationships, internet pornography, no wonder our kids are confused and running amok.
A nation without the presence or the awareness of God is doomed to fail. Everybody has a truth now days, and that truth is based upon what they think or what they feel. But Webster’s definition states “the quality or state of being true; that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality.” “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He catches the wise in their own craftiness.” 1 Corinthians 3:19
We must fight the good fight of faith each day. We will be met with resistance, but we cannot allow ourselves to fall prey or be overtaken by deceit or the cunningness of others. We’re not secret service Christians. We must be bold in our commitment to the Lord and in our convictions. There are times for compromise but not when it comes to the things of God. We must avoid being infected with prideful desires and inflated egos of self-sufficiency (EGO: Edging God Out to fit in).
We have been called from living a life that was not very pleasing to God to a new life, a life in which we are to love others, pray for and forgive those who persecute or injure us, to live peaceably with all people, leave revenge to God, and overcome evil by doing good. Matthew 5:43-47 Romans 12:18-21.
As believers, we are not to compromise when it comes to our faith or the word of God. We must make our lives fit the word of God through obedience and not try to make God’s word fit us. The standard has already been set and established by a power greater than us. We are told not to turn to the right or the left; keep our foot from evil. Anything that is not of God is evil and with every temptation comes a battle to resist its luring. God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5
As believers God has not called us to be doormats for others to step or wipe their feet on. We are to be salt and light. Salt enhances things the minute it comes in contact with something. As people of God, we are to affect those we meet by our behavior and conversation rather than being infected by the things said or done by them.
We are light because in us there is no darkness. Love is the primary thing that we promote through our actions and deeds. We are to be gentle in the way we treat and interact with others. But at the same time, we are to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves in handling the injustice done towards us.
This world is dying minute by minute and we’re the only voice of reason that this world will ever hear. This is a spiritual battle and only those with spiritual eyes will see the dangers ahead. We are to be a voice crying out in the wilderness of the lives of people warning them that the day of judgement is drawing near.
The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4
There is much difficulty living this Christian life, for it calls for humility, gentleness, and integrity among those we’re around. But we must stay the course and continue to fight the good fight of faith until the very end. The Apostle Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7.
