Keep the Faith

By Paul Chappell

"Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."

Jude 1:3–4

In 1944, a twenty-two-year-old Japanese soldier named Hiroo Onoda was sent to the island of Lubanga in the Philippines. His orders were to do as much damage as he could to prevent the Americans from retaking the island. Along with a small group of fellow soldiers, Onoda did his best to carry out his orders. When the Americans did capture the island in 1945, Onoda took to the hills.

Despite leaflets being dropped by both the American and Japanese after the war ended, Onoda believed the war was still going on. In 1952, photos from his family and letters urging him to give up were sent, but Onoda refused. Finally in 1974, nearly thirty years after his commission, the Japanese government sent Major Taniguchi, Onoda’s former commanding officer, to order him to lay down his weapons and come home.

God has called us to be soldiers for His Kingdom in hostile territory. The Christian life is not a pleasure cruise; it is warfare. To succeed and be good soldiers for the Lord, we must keep the faith, never laying down our weapons. We must never compromise our principles. We must never let down our guard. The enemy will use every means at his disposal to convince us to surrender—but when we resist him in the power of the Lord, he cannot overcome us. In fact, the Bible says that when we resist him, he flees (James 4:7)!

Today's Rooted Principle:

Committed soldiers earnestly resist the temptations to lay down their weapons and earnestly contend for the faith.