DECEMBER 29 "WHOSE SIDE WILL YOU BE ON?"

   Of course those reading this blog will more than likely be dead when this great battle takes place; Satan and his gang against Jerusalem and the people of God. Most would have a hard time seeing themselves on either side. They are not evil but neither are the devoutly religious. If anything, they want to be more neutral, than anything. As the war rages against ISIS and radical muslim extremists in the Middle East, many men and women have chosen a side and have gone to Iraq & Syria, to engage the enemy in a full frontal assault. The animosity that is breeding between those soldiers and the civilians is based predominantly on this issue. It is hard for them to return from having engaged this real enemy and come back to a society that wants to remain neutral. They have had limbs and fellow soldiers blown up by this enemy and they come back to civilians who want to remain neutral. This infuriates the soldier and causes animosity between him and his fellow countrymen. This also represents the cultural divide that is growing wider every year between Christians and Secularists. The reality is, in war there is no neutral position. You are on a side whether you have consciously chosen it or not. We have chosen a side, everyone of us, whether or not we have made a conscious, vocal declaration or not. Whether you are alive when this battle goes down or you die tomorrow, you have chosen a side. I think it's easy for most to decide they are not on the side of Satan, but they don't necessarily see themselves as some radical Christian, believing in the Devil and fighting spiritual wars. Where is the place for them, where is the happy medium for them? The answer is, there is none. Jesus said "if you are not for me you are against me", of course they will argue with that reasoning.  However, not to decide, is to decide. As the individual falls through the ice on the lake and scrambles for his life in frigid waters and you stand there saying "you can't decide whether to jump in and risk your life" in all reality you have decided just by standing there doing nothing, that is your decision. Making no decision for Christ is making a decision. It's making a decision against him. And whether you were to die today or in the battle we read about, your decision has been made and your place in eternity is already reserved for you, based on that decision or in the case of some of you, your non-decision. In short, make a decision today, for yourself, or it will be made for you. Joshua threw down the gloves in the Old Testament and said, "choose you this day, whom you will serve". The call still goes out today, the war still rages and you must figure out what side you want to be on because neutrality is not an option, even if you've convinced yourself it is, it is not!