Did you think it would be easy?

Five days ago I mentioned that I became a father for the first time 14 years ago. Well 7 years ago today, I became a dad for the fourth and final time. With two boys and two girls, each a very unique gift from God, I am thankful that He gave me these blessings and the opportunity to learn so much from being a father. Happy Birthday Kurt!

"Life isn't fair". "This is too hard".

Have you heard these before? Maybe you have said one of them recently. But who promised that life would be easy? Surely Satan attempted to promise Jesus that everything would be easy if He would just bow down to him. But God never says that life will be easy. He created man with free will, knowing full well that it meant we would sin and fall away.

"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." Ephesians 6:13

Does this sound like the message of an easy life? No, it is a call to battle, for we are constantly battling Satan as he tries to rip us away from our faith. Take a look around you, look at all the distractions that have been created to get us away from church, away from prayer. Now I am not saying that everything material is evil. What I am saying is that we need to look at everything in context to what is truly important.

In the 6th chapter of Ephesians, God makes it abundantly clear that we are in a war, a battle where we will need all of the protection that God gives us to win. We need to pray each and every day that we will continue to put on the armor to fight this battle. When you read this, does it give you the feeling that the battle will be easy? Absolutely not, in contrary it is a true indication of just how tough this battle is and will continue to be until He returns for judgment day.

Do not take this as a cry to stand on the corner and read the Gospel to passers by. While you certainly may, I believe that wearing the armor of God means being kind to others, acting as Christ himself would have acted. But it is also making sure our children know right from wrong, teaching them to love and not to judge. I pray that is the legacy that I leave behind.

God Bless your Tuesday.