October 18, 2017

                        These will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them, because He is the Lord of lords and King of kings--and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful.  Rev. 17:14.
 
    Native American culture is strongly centered in storytelling, not unlike the Hebrew culture that we find in the Old Testament.  The Elders of the tribe pass on stories about the ancestors that they had heard from their parents and grandparents.  And the grandparents had learned those same stories from their own parents and grandparents.
 
    One time a group of children approached a tribal elder.  As most children will, they begged him to tell them a story.  He shared one that personalizes the war described in our text today.
 
    According to the legends of the tribe, every person at birth receives two wolves who reside within.  The wolves grow with each child and affect human behavior throughout a person's life.  One wolf is the source of everything evil in life.  It promotes unkind, hurtful, deceitful, hateful, and cruel behavior.  The other wolf prompts acts of kindness, truthfulness, love and mercy.  The two wolves constantly battle each other inside, and a person's behavior reflects the wolf winning that day.
 
    The children, enthralled with the story, asked, "Which of the two wolves will win?"
 
    The wise elder paused dramatically for a few seconds and then answered, "The one that you feed."
 
    The war described in Revelation 17:14 is the global conflict of the end-time, called Armageddon in Revelation 16:16.  It will involve every nation on earth and every economic and religious power.  But that battle also has personal dimensions.  The New Testament is fond of describing the personal battle against sin and Satan in military terms (see Eph. 6:10-17), for example).  In the New Testament "the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly weapons" (2 Cor. 10:4).  Fleshly weapons, such as assault rifles and tanks, rip you to pieces.  But spiritual warfare is different.  It is about "tearing down false arguments, and every pretension that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God, and taking captive every thought, to make it obedient to Christ" (verses 4, 5).
 
    A battle rages inside every one of us.  And our part in this conflict is real.  The question is "What are you feeding your mind?"
 
Lord, I will have many opportunities today to choose between Your ways and the promptings of our common enemy.  I submit my choices to You today.