“We have to know our King and Commander: Jesus Christ!”
Our first priority is to get to know our Commander-in-Chief: Jesus Christ.
Soldiers always work on the orders of a government or some other higher authority. Our Banner is Jesus Christ and His Kingdom Come.
As a Christian Soldier the biggest part of our pledge is to make an intentional and very real effort to get to know Jesus – so that we may understand His heart and mind – His will for our lives and for those around us.
We work to know Jesus – to build our relationship with Him – so that we may be transformed, becoming more and more like Him as time goes on.
We do this by devoting ourselves to prayer, Bible study and fellowship. Spending time with Him and with fellow believers so that we may grow in the knowledge and wisdom of God.
“The things I used to do, I do no more…”
Along with the things we do to draw close to God, there are things we must stop doing to keep the world from pulling us back.
The Christian walk is very much a spiritual war – a war between good and evil, death and life.
We must always do our absolute best to stay away from the things of our past, always moving forward. It is not about perfection – but about making progress every day – trying our best to avoid sin and anything else that would pull us back into the grave from which Jesus has called us.
“To be a soldier is to wear a uniform…”
Soldiers wear uniforms. Although we might not have physical uniforms that we wear, we are called to become conformed to the image of Christ. If we do the right things and avoid doing the wrong things we will see Jesus working in our lives – through His Holy Spirit in us – and we will be transformed – conformed to His image. He will be our uniform.
Jesus takes the rags of our past lives, when we were still sinners, and gives us clean, white robes to wear. He cleanses us of our sin and shame – and this newness of life is the uniform we wear.
This means that we must do our best to keep our lives pure – we must keep our uniform clean and look after it to the best of our ability. We must refrain from dirty talk and angry words. We must not act out in anger – but always, as far as is possible, live peacefully with our neighbours in this world.
We must keep our uniforms clean – we must keep ourselves holy – so that Jesus might be glorified in every step and every breath we take.
“To be a soldier means pledging allegiance to a cause or Kingdom…”
We believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord. That He is our Commander-in-Chief. We will keep His commandments, we will follow where He leads.
To pledge allegiance to Jesus is to give our lives – our will, our desires and all of our strength – to the Lord so that He may do in us and through us what He wants to do in this world.
If you would like to make this pledge with us, say the prayer below. Take your first step today:
Lord, I, (YOUR NAME) give myself to You today. I give You my heart, my will and all my strength. Come and live in me and through me so that my life and the lives of everyone around me will be transformed. Give me a desire to know You better , and to seek You in all things. Come make me a soldier in Your army. Unafraid and unashamed of the Gospel. I believe today that You have saved me from sin, shame and death. Help me Lord to keep my uniform clean – help me Lord to keep my life pure and holy for Your Kingdom so that I might be an example for those who do not yet believe. I pledge my life to You today. Let Your Kingdom come in me, through me and all around me as I go out to share the Good News of Your Gospel with those I care about and all the world. In Jesus Name. Amen.