Have you ever been amazed at the resiliency of certain movie figures? I mean, there are some action heroes that just won’t die. For instance, take a look at the Furious Five from Kung Fu Panda. Now those guys just don’t go down. At the battle of Weeping River, outnumbered a thousand to one, but they didn’t stop; they just Hwaa, Yah, Hiyaa! They eat legions of wolves for breakfast. And how about Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings? The dude falls off a stinking cliff, fights a couple thousand orcs, stares down the king of the dead, and guess who’s alive at the end of the movie? (Hint: it’s not the orcs) No matter what happens, you know that he is going to come out of it on top. And then there’s Jackie Chan. Whenever I see him fighting six guys at once, or jumping off walls, or sliding down the side of a skyscraper, he looks absolutely indestructible!
Now, with the modern equalizers of guns, bombs, and the like, great warriors aren’t as highly prized as they used to be in the days of Middle Earth, but they do give you a slight edge whenever you happen to have the smaller army. Look at 2 Samuel 23 to see what I mean. One of David’s mighty men, Josheb-Basshebeth, against 800 enemies. Guess who won? And then there was Eleazar son of Dodai. It says that he struck down Philistines until his hand grew tired and froze to his sword. That’s insane. In 1 Chronicles 12 it talks about some of the Gadites that came to David’s aid at Ziklag: “These Gadites were army commanders; the least was a match for a hundred, and the greatest for a thousand.” You want hardcore, that’s hardcore!
So the supersoldiers that wade through enemies like a backyard pond in the dry season aren’t merely figments of a writer’s imagination; they really did exist, and they were just as deadly as anything an author or director today could think up. Here’s the question, though: how does this apply to us today? I mean, I doubt any of those guys I just talked about will be reading this anytime soon, but this point applies to everyone. You see, in the spiritual world, there is a battle going on. It is an invisible battle, but the results and participants of the battle are both visible and real.
The Bible says that Satan is “like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” If you know anything about lions, you know that they like preying on the weak, sick, and puny. And that would be your average foot soldier or helpless citizen. You know who he doesn’t want to tangle with? Bruce Lee. Legolas. Yoda. The guys who could kick his tail halfway across the battlefield with their respective weapons without breaking a sweat.
So how does a person become a mighty warrior? It’s like soldiers in real life. Train your mind and body to follow your commands. Get to know your weapon intimately (that would be the Bible). Learn to hear, understand, and obey your commander (that would be God). If you work hard at it, you won’t have as much trouble taking down the little search parties that the enemy sends your way. Now, this doesn’t mean that you will never sin, or that your life will be easier. But it does mean that your life will, overall, be more victorious because of your knowledge of the Word and the dedication with which you follow Christ. So get ready for battle, and start sharpening your sword.
