Cowboys and Christians
“But Amasa did not notice the sword…”
In old Western movies, the “heroes” are often indestructible and invincible. When they fight, they rarely get dirty and their hats seem to be stuck to their heads; they simply won’t fall to the ground.
And what about their revolvers? These heroes are able to shoot and kill more than twenty men without ever taking time to reload their six-bullet revolvers. If we had a few more men like these, we would never lose any war.
The most impressive quality of these “super gunmen” is their ability to be alert at all times. They could be eating or drinking, sleeping or awake, riding a horse or playing cards, but they are never surprised by the enemy. They can shoot straight, sideways, behind the back, with their eyes closed and they can take down a tiny can from a mile away with just one bullet.
Amasa, the valiant warrior, apparently didn’t watch any of these “instructional” movies. If he had, he wouldn’t have fallen for Joab’s trick. He undoubtedly knew about Joab’s crimes (Abner and Absalom) and still allowed Joab to “pass one over on him.”
As Christians, we are involved in a real war against the infernal hosts. The “flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16) are powerful and extremely dangerous.
We must be prayerfully alert at all times to avoid injury in the spiritual battlefield. The assaults will come from every angle, even from “unexpected” places, so we must learn to trust in Jesus for our protection; He is the only one who will never attack us.
