P.O.W.

2 Timothy 1:8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

The history of mankind is quite interesting and is a fruitful ground for learning. WWII for some reason, has always intigued me. Part of that reason is because my grandfather participated in the Normandy invasion on day three, so I have personal attachment. The other part is that there are so many kingdom precepts that we can learn from studying actions taken during the war.

One of those precepts is the processing of P.O.W.s. I want to be careful to not imply that all scenarios were handled equally as they were not. Places and events like Auswitch, the Bataan death March and Dachau are some of the most grusome acts of Evil this side of the cross, and I in no way want to belittle the grief of those who suffered there. What I would like to reflect on is what usually happened when a particular force was in the process of being captured. As looming defeat became clear, those losing the battle had two options. Option one is that they could choose to fight against the greater force until they died. Option two is that they could choose to surrender, and put their lives in the hands of the captors.

When you think about an armed forces surrender many things are clear. They are forced to approach the conquerors humbly with hands up in the air as a symbol of submission. Secondly, they are stripped of the weapons that could be used to do the conquering force harm. Those who surrender are fragile, powerless and must choose to live under total control of another, giving up all freedoms. I believe that this picture of being a P.O.W. was how Paul saw himself. I believe it is the only offer Jesus gives us as well. Go back and read the verses above and pray through what Jesus is really after in us and what drove Paul.

The obvious difference between surrendering to Christ and an opposing armed forces, comes after the surrender. If, like Paul, we become His prisoner as we surrender our flesh to Christ, we live vibrantly from the spirit outward. If we refuse to become His prisoner and continue to fight Him, we die from the flesh inward.

It really is that simple. God through Christ is waging war against sin and we can fight that or become a P.O.W. of Christ. It seems that message has been diluted in past years and we think that we can have both the life extending value found in surrender, yet keep our own agendas, dwell in sin and submit to no one. This is not only non-scriptural it does not make sense.