Why Boot Camp?

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.” 1st Corinthians 2:9 Walking with the Lord could be compared to boot camp. It's hard. It takes all you have within you and brings you to the end of your strength. Boot camp trains you to confront fears and become fearless as you take your place behind your commander. It teaches you how to deal with the enemy who is bent on your destruction. You won't get through God's boot camp without sprains and injuries and perhaps even broken bones. It will be the hardest thing you'll ever do. It will prepare you for all that you will encounter when your calling and ministry is launched, because as you walk out your call, all those things will be arrayed against you and it's crucial that you are prepared to stand. It doesn't happen automatically. There is no one strong enough to survive without having gone through the training. But what is the whole purpose of it all? Why is it so important to put so much into it? Brothers and sisters, we live in a fallen world and it's evil through and through. We are called to go out into enemy territory and take the lost from its clutches and bring them into the camp of our Commander, that he might save them. Our Commander takes years to prepare us for this. We spend years in boot camp because the job set before us is so critical that we must be highly honed to unquestioningly follow the orders of the Commander at every point, no matter what. There are eternal lives at stake, and the enemy knows that very well and will do all in his power to prevent our success. What is the value of a single soul? One single soul. That soul will live forever. The Word of God says that he is not willing that ANY perish, but that all come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9) and that one single soul is of eternal value to him. So the Lord is going to put into motion a plan to approach that single soul, and he will use you and I to accomplish it. We have to be ready for the task, because the enemy knows full well that we're invading his territory to steal, to kidnap, his subjects. That one single soul, if he is won, will enter into something he has never before imagined. Scripture says of our eternal home in heaven that eye has not seen nor ear heard nor has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for us. That speaks of the glories of heaven which are beyond anything we could possibly imagine. But there's more. This single soul when brought into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is going to come to experience IN THIS LIFETIME things that his eyes have never seen nor his ears heard, things he never, ever would have imagined before, as he walks in the newness of life that God creates for him. Any believer can attest to the truth of this, because every believer who has been delivered out of the darkness of his prior life into the joy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ - will tell you that he has seen things he never could possibly have anticipated, and he has heard things that he had never ever heard before, and he has experienced things that only God could have prepared beforehand to give to this one who now loves him. As this passage speaks of heaven, it also speaks of life in Christ from the moment we begin walking with him. And so we embrace all we must endure to reach that one single soul, because it's going to mean everything to him - not only in eternity, but even now as we lead him into the arms of the Commander who has gone to such lengths to make the way for that one to have eternal life NOW, and then enjoy the glories prepared for us later in the heaven that God has prepared for those who love him. Don't resist the rigors of boot camp. You're being trained for the greatest battle in life – that of reaching into the lost world and bringing Satan's prisoners into the glories of the Kingdom of our God. The results are for all eternity and are worth every bruise and scar you carry as you fulfill the call on your life to reach others with the same salvation you enjoy because of the cost your Commander endured to bring YOU in.