Don’t Wander Off Soldier!
(July 6, 2026)
Picture a soldier, we’ll call him Jack, engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy.
There is gunfire all around and his fellow soldiers are fighting hard with some of
them getting injured and killed. Suddenly Jack lays down his weapon and wanders
off into the brush looking for a blue jay. What would his fellow soldiers think of
that? What would his commanding officer think of Jack’s actions?
Mind you, he’s not deserting, he’s just distracted. Absurd isn’t it? Yes…and very
dangerous. Yet so many of us as Christian soldiers do the same thing, don’t we?
Sometimes the least little thing will attract our attention and before we know it
we are wandering “out where the buffalo roam.”
What are some of those seemingly harmless distractions? Let me name a few: TV,
sports, hobbies, politics, relationships? These are not bad in themselves, but if
they interfere with our duty as a soldier of Christ, they must go. Right?
Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:4 “No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian
affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.” Friends, not only can
we not afford to get sidetracked in our walk of faith, but our fellow soldiers also
need us to stay on point. We are not in this war alone!
For instance, if I am so invested in sports that I’m missing worship on Sundays,
then I need to be challenged to not let sports get in the way of my relationship
with God and my fellow soldiers. And what are we teaching our children if we
allow them to do the same thing? What would please our Lord Jesus?
Is there anything is our lives that is a good thing but is taking a place of
importance that is hindering our ability to serve our “Commanding Officer,” Jesus
Christ? As Hebrews 12 :1-2 urges us, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such
a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that
so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith…”
Friends, He gave it all for us, doesn’t He deserve our all?