History tells of empires built by elite warriors. Alexander the Great led his army from Greece to India. The Roman Empire stretched from Britannia, across Europe and Northern Africa. Ghengis Khan conquered Asia, from China to Eastern Europe. His empire covered 9,300,000 square miles, three times the size of the US!
The battle you fight, the “area” you need to conquer, fits inside your head. Your battle is to take control over everything that makes you a unique individual.
If your enemy controls your spirit, they have conquered you. They have made you a part of their empire; they have made you their slave.
Slaves don’t have control over their goals and actions. Their conquerors have beaten them down, broken their spirits. They have to think what their master tells them, do what they are told to do.
HW Longfellow wrote:
In the world’s broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife!
The Berzerker life is about seizing control of your spirit. The Berzerker determines his own values, sets his own goals. The Berzerker is free.
- What is a person's "spirit" to you?
- How would you describe someone with a broken spirit?
- Do you feel "broken"? Why?
THE BATTLEGROUND
Do not conform to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—
his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2
A young sailor was on his first voyage. He had the task of cleaning the compass of the ship. He noticed some salt-grunge along the edge of the glass covering. Wanting to do an exceptional job, he took his knife and ran it along that edge, scraping out the crud. What he didn’t notice was that a small piece from the tip of the knife broke off and wedged into the compass housing. As a result, the magnetic compass was slightly off. That slight difference resulted in the ship being off course. It missed the port to which they were sailing.
Your mind sets the course of your life: it’s your compass! From your mind comes your dreams and desires, your goals and priorities. In your mind, you determine how you will act, what you will do, how you will live, what you will be.
Of course, the world — the people around us — want you to conform to their way of thinking. This is a hivemind. Everyone is the same in their thoughts, values, and actions, like bees in their hive.
We don’t want to be conformed. We reject the world and its lies. We refuse to be in lock-step with others. We will not be cookie-cutter people. A song from long ago tells us:
And the people in the houses All went to the university
Where they were but in boxes And they came out all the same
And there’s doctors and lawyers And business executives
And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky And they all look just the same.
We want to go in a different direction. We want to follow Jesus. We want to live God’s perfect will, to show what is good and pleasing to him. For that, our minds need to be renewed. The crud has to be cleaned out so we can set and follow the right course of our lives.
- How does the world seek to “conform” you to its pattern?
- How are you “transformed”?
- How will you know if you’ve been “conformed” or “transformed”?