A Good Ol' Fight

brother Mark and me (the 2 kids in the middle)
the "big" slide at DeSoto State Park
1960

"Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the  presence of many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:12)

As a little girl growing up in a household and neighborhood of all boys, brother Mark taught me to fight by age 5. (It was just something kids did for fun up on Lookout Mountain in the 1960s.)

In his letter to young Timothy, the Apostle Paul relates how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household: fight the good fight of faith. 

Henrietta Mears: "We will not be carried into heaven on flowery beds of ease. We must fight if we would be conquerors. But it is a 'good fight.'"

Who are we fighting? Not against flesh-and-blood people, but  we're fighting against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places - namely the devil and his demon cohorts (Ephesians 6:12)

What are our weapons? Not putting up our dukes, but speaking the mighty Word of God and praises to His name.

Are you fighting the good fight, beloved? 

(Hilarious and powerful sermon: Fighting the Good Fight by Pastor Joe McGee. Available at: churchofthehighlands.com, click media, click first Wednesday)