The Force is Awake! How About You?

                                               

   Although Al and I are not avid movie goers, we recently decided to see the Star Wars Episode 7 movie which has just been released.  We were curious about how the characters had changed and what had transpired over the thirty year lapse between the first six in the series and the latest, “The Force Awakens.” It turned out to be a thriller, keeping us glued to our seats the entire time. There was little chance of falling asleep with the constant barrage of enemy attacks which seemed to be coming right out of the screen; and we weren’t even watching the 3 D version!

    Of course, we knew that our Michigan family would be going to see it and wanted to be able to talk to them about the movie. Our youngest grandsons in particular are both really into Star Wars. Nate (6 1/2) was a Storm Trooper and Elliot (almost 5), Darth Vader for Halloween. They both wore their costumes to the movie and the rest of the family wore Star Wars T shirts—all huge fans.

   Elliot is very young, but has always been drawn to the character of Darth Vader, spending many hours of imaginary play with his toy light saber and convincing anyone coming to visit to get involved in a serious ‘sword’ fight. In the interest of knowing what was what and who was who, we thought it would be fun to see the seventh one in the series. And sure enough, shortly after that we were able to discuss it in a Skype session on the computer with the boys and their mom, who were all very enthusiastic about it.

   Sometime later, I happened to strike up a conversation about the movie with a young friend of ours, a teenager. He wanted to know the name of the ‘bad guy’ which I happened to remember, thanks to Nate and Elliot.

    “His name was Kylo Ren.” I responded. After the demise of Darth Vader, this new leader of the First Order had emerged. He was definitely an evil character.

     “I think I’d like to be a Jedi,” said the boy with a smile.  

    That touched my heart. “You are a ‘Jedi’—a Christian warrior in God’s army!”

     Although he is a young man with special needs, he plays on the drum line in his high school band, is a member of a worship team at church and was selected to be in the high school honor band this year. He is experiencing God’s unconditional love from his family, youth group leader, church family and friends, and is learning how to make right choices.

    So what does it take to be warriors for God? First we need to be properly equipped: armed with the helmet of salvation; wearing the breastplate of righteousness and the belt of truth; the boots of the gospel of peace on our feet; the shield of faith in one hand and the sword of God’s Word in the other. Omitting any of these things leaves us vulnerable to attacks from our ultimate, relentless enemy, Satan, and all of his forces.

    Next, we need to have an open line of communication with God through prayer. Over and over again in the Bible, we are instructed to pray, believe and thank God for hearing our prayers. What soldier would go into battle without any means of communicating with his commanding officer?  How much time are we actually spending praying for our marriages, families, pastors, communities, nation…for the world?

   Finally, we can’t fight alone. Christians need to be awake, united and ready to be used for the advancement of His kingdom. God is alive, well and is working in the world. There is no time for napping—Jesus is coming back soon! Revive Your church, oh Lord!      

     “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it and repent.” Revelation 3:2-3 NIV

(Read Ephesians 6:10-18 for more about the armor of God and our spiritual battle)