15Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. 16The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. 17When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.” 18Moses replied: “It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear.” 19When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. (Exodus 32:15 – 19)
From the passage above we observe something that is very disturbing. While God’s glory was clearly on exhibit on Mount Sinai, the Children of Israel who could see this exhibition still turned to an idol because Moses was “delayed” in returning to them. How could things get so distorted? We will not get into full blown explanation here, but one thing is very clear: if we are not vigilant we can turn from God’s glory to idols. That is the nature of spiritual warfare.
Thankfully, God has provided all that we need to be vigilant and victorious. The Holy Spirit desires to open our eyes to the resources documented in God’s word. For example, The 40 Days of Discipline website provides the following three Biblically based suggestions for engaging in spiritual warfare: 1) Subdue your temptations; 2) Establish yourself in community; and 3) Put on the full armor of God.
Question
In the matter of spiritual warfare, on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your Awareness Quotient (consciousness of the spiritual battle) and your Reliance Quotient (dependence on the weapons God provides)?