Are You Battle Ready?

The other day, I was wandering through Exodus. No, no, it was not in the wilderness, as you might imagine. It was in the deliverance. 

Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day when you came out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, for the LORD brought you out of here by the strength of his hand.” Exodus 13:3a CSB

Goodness! For the first time, I saw something I’ve never seen in this particular verse. I saw Jesus. Remembering all that God has done brought Messiah to mind first and foremost. God gave Jesus to deliver me from my slavery to sin. And it’s only by the strength of His hand that I walk free today. 

and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Romans 6:18 NASB

Meandering further in the passage, pondering the freedom we have with Christ, I found this:

And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation. Exodus 13:18 CSB

Though the Israelites had left the land of their captors, and been delivered from slavery, they had to remain battle ready. There would be skirmishes to fight. 

The same is true of us today. We will have battles. Yes, we are set free from the sin that entangles us, but sometimes our flesh wages war against our spirit. Sometimes we want to go back to Egypt, to what we knew. We don’t want to walk forward in battle formation into the unknown. And sometimes that crafty old devil knows we want to grow in Christ. He will try to trip us up. It’s a fight, for sure.

We must be battle ready. 

We must not break formation. How?

The LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so that they could travel day or night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people. Exodus 13:21-22 CSB

Follow the Lord. He will go ahead of us. In the brightness of the day He is there to lead us. And in the darkness of night, He will surely give us light to see. And He will never leave us to fight alone. 

What’s my take away? Stay battle ready, and keep moving forward. You will not fight your battles alone. Put on the full armor of God each and every day. Why? To resist the enemy and to stand firm. And when you armor up, know that God will lead you and light your way. 

Grace be with you,

Ellen