Warrior
When I work out, I listen to worship music…for a couple of reasons: Working out leaves my mind open and free, and whatever I listen to I end up meditating on—pondering, considering, taking to heart. I want whatever goes into my ears to be as healthy to my soul as the workout is to my body. And honestly, another reason is that it gives me some extra focused time with the Lord where there are no distractions, duties, or obligations pulling at me.
That being said, today I was listening to one of the songs on my workout playlist that I have listened to so many times before, and it struck me again powerfully. It is a Christian dubstep song called “Warfare” by Matthew Parker. Here are some of the lyrics:
“The enemy’s advancing
But we will keep on dancing
‘Cause in the power of God we dare
To do the impossible
We fight, we love
We take the world by storm
Because our captain is the great Almighty Lord
(And we will give it all for Him)
The day is coming fast
And this life is almost passed
We gotta stay strong ’til thе day
That we get therе
Oh, our hero takes the lead
We’re runnin’ at full speed
This is really, truly warfare
Warfare.”
I love, love, love the images these words evoke. As I am exercising and the beat increases and the lyrics fill my imagination, I can almost see it…almost like I’m literally there on the spiritual battlefield with Jesus ready to do warfare. I can see my brothers and sisters in Christ with their gleaming armor on and all of us with swords in hand—the Sword of the Spirit, ready to move on command.
I can see Jesus on His great steed, sword in hand as well. I can see Him at just the right moment lifting His sword into the air and giving a great and fierce battle cry. I can see us crying out as well as we follow his charge onto the battlefield, Him leading the way as we break onto enemy ground.
I can see us running, leaping and dancing, fighting the enemy with all of our might, combating him and his minions with Scripture, faith, even joy in our hearts. I can see us smiling at each other across the battlefield knowing full well that we have each other’s backs as we go full force into the darkness, taking back territory the enemy has stolen with his lies.
I think sometimes we forget that we are called to be warriors and that our great and magnificent Lord is a WARRIOR Himself! We tend to mostly focus on His gentleness and His tenderness which are such beautiful, amazing, and important aspects of His character, but we do sometimes completely forget that Jesus Christ is also fierce!
Take a look here at John’s description of Jesus in Revelation 19: “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.” Revelation 19:11-16
Wow! Just wow… Read Revelation 1 as well. It confirms this fierce image of Jesus, our captain, our hero, our WARRIOR.
Today, take a moment with me, if you will, to allow the Lord to make real for us ALL of the aspects of His character, including the fierce warrior side of Him (see Isaiah 42:13). Let’s meditate on who He is, who we are in Him, and all that we can accomplish—including on the spiritual battlefield—when we are found in Him.
Kaite Botello
FBC Aztec Member