A Lifelong Battle

By Greg Laurie, Op-ed contributor Monday, June 22, 2009

Today's devotion is adapted from a recent post on Greg's Blog. To read Pastor Greg's latest blog entry, click here.

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. - 2 Timothy 2:3

Without question, the Christian life is the greatest life you could ever live. And why is that? I can't even count all the ways!

God takes a life that was empty, aimless, and headed toward certain judgment, and turns it around and transforms it. He forgives us of all of our sin, and if that wasn't enough, credits the very righteousness of Jesus Christ into our spiritual bank account.

He removes all of our guilt, and fills the void in our lives with Himself, as He literally takes up residence in the very center of who we are.

Most importantly, He changes our eternal address from a place called hell to a place called heaven.

This all comes as a result of the power of the gospel proclaimed and believed. And when we do believe, we are gifted with a new desire to glorify God with our lives.

It's absolutely true that when you trust Christ as Savior, God removes a whole set of problems you used to have-including the nagging guilt and that empty sense of aimlessness in life that used to haunt you.

But we need to understand that there will be a whole new set of problems that will take the place of your old problems. That is because the day that you put your trust in Jesus Christ, you enter into a battle that will last for the rest of your life.

Why? Because not only is there a God who loves you and has a plan for your life, there is also a devil who hates you, and fiercely opposes God's plan.

Some are surprised to find that the Christian life is not a playground, but a battleground. And that is why the apostle Paul said, "Endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Timothy 2:3)

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