Buffalo Soldiers
April 14, 2003
Last night I watched an interview with Colonel Ted
Martin, division commander of the 4th Infantry Division--proudly
called the Buffalo Soldiers. For weeks our nation's most
powerful fighting force waited in ships off the coast of Turkey
while the war raged in Iraq.
"Are your troops ready?" Geraldo Rivera asked. "Or
did they get rusty on the ships?"
"No sir. We used the time to train."
"Are your tanks ready for the desert?"
"Yes sir. We spent a month in the desert in the
United States. We traveled 500 miles in the sand to prepare
ourselves for what we would face here. We're the best trained,
best equipped, and most disciplined fighting force in the
world."
As Geraldo wrapped up the interview I couldn't
help but admire the preparation and training endured by the
members of the 4th Infantry Division and the rest of our
fighting forces. And it paid off. Our military crushed the Iraqi
resistance in less than a month.
I think those of us engaged in the war for our
heart, and that of our family, must exercise spiritual
discipline. We must prepare ourselves for spiritual combat as
though our lives depended on it. Because they do!
Ultimately, Christ is the source of our life and
power. He alone transforms us into his likeness by grace. Yet,
while grace is the means by which God changes us, we must
provide a setting in our hearts for his grace to be released.
The apostle Paul said, "The one who sows to please
his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the
one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap
eternal life" (Galatians 6:8). In his book, Celebration of
Discipline, Richard J. Foster points out that a farmer is
helpless to grow grain. He can provide the right conditions for
the growing of grain. He can plow the ground, plant the seed,
water the ground, and allow the natural forces of the earth to
take over. After a few weeks the life in the seed germinates and
up comes a plant.
Similarly, the spiritual disciplines do not
produce spiritual growth. But they are "God's way of getting us
into the ground; they put us where he can work within us and
transform us." (Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline,
HarperCollins, New York, NY, 1988, p. 7) They are the
environment where the grace of God can produce the life of
Christ in us.
Just as a soldier must prepare for battle through
a rigorous training routine, so we must prepare for battle by
disciplining ourselves spiritually. With that in mind I want to
encourage you to recommit yourself to the four daily disciplines
of a mighty man:
1) 3-5 minutes reading the Bible.
2) 3-5 minutes in prayer.
3) Tell your family you love them.
4) Maintain sexual purity.
If enough of us create a setting in our hearts for God's grace
to work, we'll see revival come, one man, one day at a time.
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