So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. (Acts 20:31)
Fencing was something I’d only seen in old black-and-white movies when I was growing up, and I had no idea that it was a sport that people could actually take part in. My friend, Christine, took fencing classes in college and gushed with excitement about her matches when we spoke. One day I finally had the opportunity to watch Christine in action. The opponents, dressed in protective gear, faced each other, and readied themselves for action when the referee said, “En gard.”
Each of the fencers had been training for this day; they knew the rules of engagement, and they understood that there would be a fight at some point. With the words from the referee, each of the players knew that the time had come. I noticed that they each used their swords for attack as well as defense, and that the strategy appeared to be “touch without being touched.”
Fencing is a powerful metaphor for our lives as Christians. You are dressed in God’s protective gear, have been trained, equipped, and warned, and you must use all the weapons of warfare that God has given you, offensively and defensively. As you go into the world, it is your assignment to touch without being touched. You are in the world but not of it, and you and I have been trained and warned.
Use God’s Word as your powerful weapon in life.
Angela Golden Bryan is a graduate of Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University. Her top spiritual gifts are encouragement, service, and compassion. She and her husband live in South Florida and enjoy visits from their two adult children.
© 2022 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
