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Sunday, November 11, 2018

Willing to Take a Stand

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

Ephesians 6:11–13

After his graduation from Harvard, Samuel Langdon pastored a church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for many years. Just before the Revolutionary War began, Langdon returned to Boston to serve as president of Harvard. But when the fighting started, Langdon, with a great burden for the spiritual health and well-being of the American soldiers, announced to his church that he was going to join the army as a chaplain.

In his diary, Langdon recounted the shocked response of the congregation. Finally he wrote that an elderly deacon stood and said, “Brethren, our minister has acted right. This is God’s cause, and as in days of old, the priests bore the ark into the midst of the battle, so must they do it now. We should be unworthy of the fathers and mothers who landed on Plymouth Rock if we do not cheerfully bear what Providence shall put upon us in the great conflict now before us.”

The freedom we enjoy was purchased at great cost by those “who more than self their country loved.” Many took up the cause, not just in that first American conflict but in all those that have followed. Many of those people went to war because of their faith, believing God had equipped them for the task. As we reflect on those who paid the price for serving our country, we should be grateful for their faith and courage and give thanks to God.

Today’s Growth Principle: 

It is right to pause to remember those whose courage and sacrifice won the blessing of freedom for us.