LET'S FIGHT

Right there in the restaurant, it was time for me to start a fight. Tommy needed to join in.

I had not seen Tommy in several months. We savored our meaningful reunion over lunch.

“I’m as close to God as I’ve ever been,” Tommy said. I didn’t wrinkle my forehead in disbelief, but my brain certainly did a few contortions. The reason? As Tommy weaved together the events of the past few months, I assessed the truer picture of what was going on in his life.

He asserted: “Never closer to God.” Then he told me that he’s living with his girlfriend, that he had to lie to get his driver’s license back, he’s mad at the pastor of the church he no longer attends, he is not attending any church, and he is burned-out because of seventy-hour work weeks.

And his once spontaneous personality which typically sparkled with contagious humor now seemed stale. This was not the Tommy I had shared some of my life’s most engaging God-conversations with.

Now, I’m not accusing Tommy of lying. But he is getting beat-up while his God-life erodes away. It’s fight time. And if I’m going to fight, I need instructions from my favorite fighter’s handbook. The Bible.

Here are some of its fighting words: “Fight the good fight of faith!” This is faith in God, in Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing more battle worthy.

If a person’s life is all tangled in ungodly behavior and life debilitating living—mixed with confusion, one of the rounds may already be lost.

So…get up. Get a plan.

Here’s a plan from that Faith-Fighters manual. “Flee from evil.” And then: “Pursue righteousness, pursue godliness, pursue faith, pursue love, pursue perseverance and pursue gentleness.”

When a person does this, one word comes to mind. VICTORY!