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From 2000 – 2006, I published a weekday devotional via email. It was called The Way-Maker’s Review, and it represented my first Internet ministry efforts. The ministry grew from its original 12 members to over 1,000. I am determined to revisit and re-run some of the devotions from that ministry here on my blog. Partly because they present immutable truths and bear repeating and partly because I want to preserve them, lest they vanish into the oblivion of defunct Internet enterprises.
Hopefully, they will be a blessing to some who never saw them in their original format and a nice callback for those who did.
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2005
SUNSHINE SOLDIERS
But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials.Luke 22:28 (NKJV)
These are the words of Christ to His closest followers. What a blessed wayto be identified by the Lord!
It is not difficult to find those who will continue with Him in thesunshine, but the shadow is another story. When Christ was riding the peak
of His popularity, the bandwagon filled up very quickly. The crowds werelarge and the mood celebratory. On the day of His “triumphal entry” into
Jerusalem, palm leaves were spread before Him by adoring “followers,” andsongs were sung, blessing Him as the One who comes in the name of the Lord.
It was not, however, very far from the glory road to the Via De La Rosa. When Jesus borethe Cross upon His back, the mock crown of thorns upon His head, and theweight of the world’s sins upon His shoulders, those who followed Him werefew and far between. Even these men who received the compliment offered inour text faltered along the way. They swooned and swayed in the heat ofbattle.
During the time of America’s struggle from tyranny, during the birth pangsof Freedom’s child, Thomas Paine wrote these powerful words:
“These are the times that try men’s souls.The summer soldier and the
sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from service of his country;
but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered. Yet, we have this consolation
with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”
And how will it be with you and me? Will we be sunshine soldiers? Will weshrink from Him in times of conflict and adversity. Will we wallow in bedsof doubt or hide in shadows of fear? Or will we continue with Him in Histrials – and our own? Will we stand firm, fight valiantly, suffer silently,and believe heartily that “when the battle’s over, we shall wear a crown?”
A Prayer For Today: “Father, let me not shrink from service to You,regardless of cost or consequence. May I stand in Your strength, lean onYour everlasting arms, and depend on Your grace. I want to be with Youthrough sunshine and shadow, because I know that You will be with me. Amen.”
