Contending With Our Enemies

Happy (almost) Sabbath friends. I pray that you are safe and abiding in Jesus during these tumultuous times!

A verse I am fond of is found in Isaiah, chapter 49, verse 25. It says, ” Surely, thus says the LORD, “Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away, And the prey of the tyrant will be rescued; For I will contend with the one who contends with you, And I will save your sons.” (NAS). I love that God will be our defender, and “fight” in my (our behalf when we are surrendered to Him, I love that He will contend with those who contend with me (us)! It is very easy to apply that verse to the people who have wronged us and treated us unjustly. But there is much more to the verse than that! I think first and foremost this verse applies to Satan, public enemy #1, and his fallen host. Scripture says Satan is our accuser. But if we consider Satan “enemy #1”, then a very close 2nd has to be self, my (our) fallen nature. It might be fair to say that self is actually my (our) worst enemy!

Now please don’t misunderstand me when I say “Yes, I do want God to destroy my human enemies”! By that I simply mean they I want God to convert them, change their hearts, and turn them into my brothers/sisters in Jesus. Because then my human “enemy” will truly have been destroyed and no longer exist. But more importantly, I (we) need Jesus to “destroy” my fallen self nature and daily give me (us) a new heart as He has promised and daily write His law in my (our) mind as He has promised, so then I (we) can resist the devil, who God will contend with on my (our) behalf!