My Daily Devotional

The Battlefield for our Souls

“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
Matthew 3:8

Several years ago I heard a sermon from the Reverend Billy Graham who said something that has stayed with me for all this time. He said that when it comes to our spiritual walk, we are doing one of two things. We are either moving forward or falling back. There is no in between. As I think about this I can agree with him completely, as I have had periods of time since then that I have been enthused about reading my Bible each day and studying and seeking more wisdom from God about my life. These were the times that I was moving forward in my walk with God. Then there were times that I would put my Bible down for a day or two, maybe a week as I became too busy with other things. These were the times I was falling back. Many times when I only read and study for just a few minutes I am still moving forward, but it is when I stop completely I fall back. Just a little time with God each day lets us continue to move forward. The more time we spend with him, the farther along we will be, but just a little time each day lets us continue to grow and become a better person. The more time we spend with God each day the more fruit we will produce, as we will begin to better obey and follow God’s commands for our lives. There is a constant battle in each of our lives as Satan is competing for us as well. He will attempt and devise ways where we use our time and our talents for his purposes of evil instead of good. When we are moving forward this tells us that God is winning the battle, but when we move backward Satan is winning. Our life is the ultimate battlefield on which the most important war of all times is being fought, with the trophy being our souls. We need to keep our minds and our life focused on Jesus and use all the armor that God provides to defeat Satan as our life is in the balance.