Choosing the Good Ground I love history, especially military history, and of that, especially Civil War history. Whenever I read the stories of battles, I’m surprised at how much time is spent before the battle choosing the ground where the battle will be fought. Commanders try to maneuver their forces to make the enemy respond by moving their forces. Each move and counter move is made to take maximum advantage of the natural terrain that will give their forces maximum advantage in the coming battle. In fact, do you know many Civil War historians think that if Richard Ewell, the Confederate commander who first reached Gettysburg, had forced the Union troops to retreat past Cemetery Ridge, the battle of Gettysburg might have gone a different way? If Gettysburg had been lost, Lincoln would have been forced to make different decisions and that of course, would have dramatically changed our history. All this because one general in one battle didn’t choose the good ground. Not many of us think about the battles we have to fight in our day to day lives. If we did, we might spend more time thinking about choosing the ground we fight on. Jesus talks a lot about the foundation of our lives. Paul teaches the early church to be sure about the foundation upon which they choose to build their lives. Likewise, you and I need to spend some time, some serious time, thinking about the values and truths upon which we establish our lives. Every choice we make. . .our treasures, our careers, our successes, our relationships. . .everything comes from the choice we make for the foundation of our lives. As a Christ-follower, I believe the totality of God’s personality and truth is found in Jesus. To know Jesus is to know God. To know the truth of Christ is to know the truth of God. That’s why I study the Scriptures. Right now, I’m deep into Paul’s letter to Colossians. I want to know everything I can about Jesus and then, I do my best to align my life (obedience) to the teachings of Christ. I don’t, however, do this on my own. Christ’s presence through His Spirit, gives me the strength and insight to better accomplish this alignment every day. No, I never get there, but every day I get a little closer. It’s the ground I’ve chosen to stand on. This one choice affects every other choice I make today. I’m confident I’ve made a good choice — a choice that will carry me through this life and beyond. What about you? What ground have you chosen to stand on?
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 21:21:27 +0000
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