David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me… I Sam 17:45-46
It is possible to win less than a complete victory. This take place in both carnal warfare, and spiritual warfare. It is possible to water down, dilute, compromise, until a seeming victory is nothing more than a sorry defeat. The outcome is dishonor instead of honor; uneasiness instead of peace; appeasement instead of vindication. There lurks the tantalizing fear that we’ll meet that same enemy again, and likely under less favorable circumstances.
On the other hand, it is possible to win a victory about which there can be no question. Friends and foes are aware of the outcome. The triumph is clean, clear-cut, and conclusive. A monument could be erected to the victor, and no one would dare challenge it. Right is vindicated, honor is established, and no unholy “deal” is involved. The same foe may be encountered again, but not without knowing that he was soundly beaten in previous combat.
In our personal lives let there be no unholy appeasement; no secret alliances or agreements with the enemy; no loose ends or incomplete victory, to meet us at some turn of the road, with regret and remorse.
If we move into the fray as David, depending entirely upon the help of the Almighty, and with no thought of less than complete conquest, then men will perceive that we know on whose side we stand, for what we fight, and in which direction we travel.
B. H. Phaup
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