10:4, Good Buddy

SCRIPTURE: The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  2 Corinthians 10:4 NIV

THOUGHT: In citizen’s band radio transmissions, 10-4 is short for “message received.” Well, spiritually speaking, today’s verse is a “10:4” message we need to receive.

Paul is talking about the battlefield of the mind, and the promise that we have an arsenal of spiritual weapons to fight for truth and sanity and wisdom in this crazy world. Weapons the world doesn’t know about; weapons the world doesn’t have.

Paul gave an entire list of spiritual weapons, both offensive and defensive, in Ephesians 6:14-18 but here he shares that spiritual weapons, “have divine power to demolish strongholds…arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.” Weapons that help us “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:4-5 NIV).”

There are lots of promises here, but among them is the unspoken promise that we will need weapons. We will need to demolish strongholds in our minds, wills and emotions. The world and its god(s) will throw arguments at us who believe  like we’re targets in the world cow-chip-throwing contest. We’ll need divine power to take captive all those, dare I say, “crappy” thoughts, arguments and pretensions, making them obedient to the words and wishes of Christ – not something we can accomplish on our own, nor should we try. By God’s grace, through the power of God’s Spirit, we’ll keep putting those cow chips where they belong – 10-4, good buddy?

In this case, might not want to pick up what I’m putting down.

PRAYER: Message received, Lord. Thank you that you never leave us defenseless but trust us with the spiritual gear to demolish strongholds, arguments, and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of you. Thank you for the right tools to take thoughts captive, and the grace to keep our minds, wills and emotions clean and clear with your help, in ways the world knows nothing about.