Mighty Warrior
Often when reading Scripture I will come across a Biblical character that I just greatly admire. A few that stand out to people, for example, are King David, Gideon, and of course Jesus. Recently I was reading in 2nd Samuel (a book of read dozens of times) and I noticed a "side" character that just really stood out to me and I LOVE his story. In 2nd Samuel we get a description of King David's 3 "Mighty Men" and one of them greatly inspired me to write this post. The passage of Scripture is this:
2nd Samuel 23:9-10
"Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty warriors, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim[a] for battle. Then the Israelites retreated, but Eleazar stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead."
The army fled. They left the field of battle and only Eleazar stood his ground against the army of the Philistines. He struck down his enemies until his sword hand was clenched around his sword so tightly that it became like a part of his very own body. I imagine his knuckles turning white as he clasped his sword with everything in his being. He swung again and again as enemies fell on his right and left like a rushing river hitting a rock only to realize it does not have the power to move it an inch. There he stood. A mighty man in the army of Israel who stood his ground and struck down the enemies of Israel.. the enemies of God.
What would it be like to have that story be about YOU?
We see here that it doesn't take an army to bring victory. The arm returned after the battle, but the enemies had already fallen by Eleazar's hand. All they could do was strip the bodies and wish that they could have taken a better role in this amazing story. All it took was one faithful man that refused to leave where he was called to be. That refused to drop his sword no matter how exhausted he became.
YOU can be that man (or woman)! As Christians YOU are in a constant battle against an enemy far greater than the Philistine soldiers and God is looking for that one soldier that will grip the sword and stand their ground. What is our sword? Scripture describes it like this:
Ephesians 6:17
"Take... the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God"
Our sword is the word of God. Our Sword is the Bible!
But did Eleazar just pick up a sword for the first time ever and go out to battle ready to stand his ground against the army of the Philistines? NO!
In Biblical times young warriors would have trained with their weapons from the time they were old enough to lift them. He would have trained daily to prepare himself to swing that weapon against his enemies.
In the same way, we can't just pick up a Bible when we need it and expect to know how to use it!
Every day we need to be picking up our Bibles and spending time with the word of God. We have to build a personal and consistent relationship with our creator so that when the battle is at our door we know how to use our greatest weapon to defeat the enemy. It has to be DAILY. On the one day that we step out the door without spending time in training with our Sword, the enemy will attack us the hardest. The Bible says:
1 Peter 5:8
"Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
The enemy has the better chance to devour you when your weapon is down at your side rather than being at the ready.
So my challenge for you today is this: Start a "training regimen". Find a time every single day to shut everything down and get alone with the word of God. Journal and write down what God is saying to you. When you start off the day training with your sword then you will be prepared when the enemy comes charging after you.
Eleazar was an amazing mighty warrior of God... and YOU can be too!
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