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Are You A Christian POW or AWOL?
Well, your position and salvation in Christ is sure, but if the devil were to win this battle and take you as a POW, it could only to be due to your surrender to his forces. Never can the enemy claim victory over a child of God without us first willingly putting down our weapon, waving a little white flag and giving up the fight. It sounds insane for a person in a battle, holding a place on the winning side to just, all at once, give up and surrender to the enemy. But teenage Christians across our country are washing out and surrendering all the time. Most don’t make it to 20 before they quit on God and become a spiritual POW. How is the enemy so successful? Soldiers are asleep! They become AWOL in God’s armed forces! The TV replaces the Bible, the boyfriend replaces fellowship with good Christians, video games take the place of church attendance. In the real world, a soldier who is AWOL will get disciplined very harshly by his commander or captain. It’s never a pleasant experience. He loses rank, he forfeits pay and loses the respect of his peers who were busy in the fight while the traitor was AWOL. God gets no pleasure in having to deal with us like this. Be a faithful soldier. Keep your testimony as a faithful teen. Show up each week for training from the one true manual, God’s Word. When the doors are open, decide you are going to be there. Bring in the lost (visitors) and wounded and care for the fallen. Go back to the old prayer closet, praying to see friends and loved ones come to church and get saved. The soldiers who survive are the ones who get involved and stay in the fight! Now, you may not wear real camo, or carry an actual loaded weapon (I hope not!!), but you need to put on your battle gear which is the armor of God. And take up your sword which is the Word because a lost soul is out there counting on you to keep taking a stand and not wash out. Will you be one of the ones to quit on God before you reach 20? I want to challenge you today: stay in the battle and hear your Captain, King Jesus someday say to you, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”