I Pledge Allegiance...

My wife and I made numerous trips into town over the long holiday weekend.  In the past I would find myself checking out other Mustangs and comparing them to ours in equipment, color combinations and over all appearance.  There always seemed to be a brotherhood connection between Mustang drivers as the customary nod between us became a regular occurrence.  But now that we no longer have our sports car, I found myself on the hunt for other SUV’s similar to our new Equinox!  It must be a guy thing for I suddenly never saw another Mustang but instead a myriad of mid-size Sport Utility Vehicles.

As it turns out, the Equinox is Chevrolet’s third most popular vehicle behind the Silverado pickup and the Cruz sedan.  So it is easy to spot them on the road!  What I noticed though, is that ours has many features or extra “packages” that most of the other ones that I’ve spotted do not have!  

As with our house, it is like the Lord knew the desires of our hearts and provided us with a car that included many of the accessories that He knew we would enjoy… like the chrome appearance package that includes chrome door handles, rims, mirrors (heated as well) and interior trim.  I remember Piper telling me once that you could make almost any car look good when you added the right wheels and rims to it!  (Ahhh… among all her other qualities, she has always been a car enthusiast… no wonder she absconded with my heart! – remember, in High School she used to drive her Mom’s orange with black racing stripes 1969 Camaro SS396… like I said… It was love at first drive!)  

Also included with our Equinox is the driver convenience package that includes more bells and whistles with the infotainment system, 8 way power seats, remote vehicle starter, split back folding rear seats, and many other extras.

Another thing that I realized on our trips to town was that I no longer felt an allegiance to Mustangs and their owners.  Now I am beginning to find myself being attached to SUV’s, their drivers and the life-style that this type of vehicle provides… although our oldest son did make the comment that he wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t see another hot Mustang or Camaro in our future!  And speaking of our future…  a beautiful deep blue Camaro convertible did catch my eye in the lot at the Chevy dealer when we were finalizing the deal on the Equinox…

But back to today’s subject… I came across a section of Scripture over the weekend that talks about another kind of allegiance.  Romans 8:12 tells us that we “have no obligation (or allegiance) to live the way our (old) corrupt nature wants us to live.” (God’s Word ©)  So, just as I no longer feel obligated or an allegiance to the Mustang we no longer own, I should not feel any obligation or allegiance to my old self that was exchanged for the new man I became when I accepted Christ as my personal Savior and Lord back in the early 1970’s.

Nor should I feel any obligation or allegiance to any sinful desires or influences or lies of the devil that may try to exert their presence into my daily life!   

Take this morning for example… Piper awoke with a high resurgence of body shakes and jerks today.  In response I immediately went into my “keep her calm, relaxed and fear-free” mode of operation.  I continually spoke gently to her as I confessed God’s Word over her and kept reminding her that all was okay!

Once I got her dressed and into the kitchen, it dawned on me that we were NOT under any obligation to allow these symptoms of sickness and disease to continue attacking her body!  But instead, we had placed our allegiance in the truth and power of God’s Word.  Therefore, as I spoke the Word over her, I noticed a new resolve within me as I confessed the sickness-busting-power of what I have written of before as God’s opinion of Piper’s health.

The symptoms did hang on a little longer than usual this morning, but they eventually did subside while we kept pumping the overcoming power of God’s Word into her need. I noticed an almost immediate difference in my faith when I realized that I don’t owe the lying symptoms of this sickness any allegiance.  For us Christians, there is NO MORE OBLIGATION to the devil’s attacks on our bodies, or any of his other lies as well.

For we belong to a NEW COVENANT, with a NEW ALLEGIANCE, to a NEW BOSS, with a NEW POWER and with a NEW RESULT!

WOW!  What do you think about that?  Kind of puts a whole new attitude into your daily steps doesn’t it?  It sure does for me… and our experience this morning only deepens my resolve!

Is it time to make a reset in your allegiance this week?  Let me know what happens when you do!  Have a great post-Thanksgiving week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “Who am I expecting to place my allegiance in today?”