Old Dog V
A Soldier Of The King
Bob Neumann, April 11, 1999
I am a soldier of the King. Just seven short words that define my existence to many. They see and turn away knowing what without regard to who. For the who has lost all meaning for me, never had for them. Being a soldier of the King requires being under authority and focused entirely to duty. Our duty is to obey THE KING.
To those who notice, we are walking and breathing testimonies that there is a King. To many this is a welcome reminder, to others a point of provocation. Such variances of opinion does not reflect the activities of duty, but their relationship with THE KING. Often we are but the recipients of where man’s heart truly lies, In THE KINGDOM, or outside in the Darkness.
Yet to most we move unseen and unnoticed across the Land. Fleeting shadows easily ignored and quickly forgotten by most. Our purpose is duty and obedience, not affectation and reward. That is the rationale of being ‘under authority’ rather than holding authority. For when THE KING SPEAKS it is not for us to just listen but to do. To go. To stand. To overcome. To walk away and serve again.
To be a soldier of THE KING requires so little, and so much. Not a PARADE SOLDIER used for ornament and ceremony. Nor a BARRACKS BRAWLER noted for bellicose language and a bully’s attitude. Never a FAIR WEATHER FIGHTER that stands and is noticed when times are clear and the climate provides no heat to test ones mettle.
Nor is a soldier a warrior who rises for the threat that comes, and returns home to hearth, and home, and kin.
For to answer HIS CALL required a warrior to lose and not gain. To be a soldier a warrior must put aside that which called him to stand and face the darkness. To be a soldier one does not rally upon emotion, but to respond out of duty to THE KING. Merely to STAND upon HIS WORD. TO GO wherever and when ever HE SAYS. And in OBEDIENCE ACT without regard to personal consequences.
To be a soldier of The King means that no one sees the person, but THE PURPOSE OF THE KING. Individuality no longer exists, as we become cognizant and devoted by HIS WILL ALONE. It is in this what we call DUTY we can go when told, do what is told, and to move on when told. Many would not choose such a life and it is not hard to understand from those who have never heard HIS VOICE, or seen HIS HAND.
Maybe that is all that differentiates, it does not matter. For HIM and HIM ALONE do we wear HIS ARMOR and HOLD HIS STANDARD. By HIS WILL we stand alone in the night on the walls. And by HIS WILL alone do we enter the pit or penetrate strongholds. Whether standing a WATCH or walking POINT matters little so long AS HIS WORDS ARE OBEYED.
That is all there really is. To become faceless and nameless to SERVE. To become unnoticeable and unrecognizable to SERVE; to become homeless and without
ties to SERVE; to lose all that we were to be what HE DEMANDS us to BE; to lose all we esteemed and valued to be HIS VOICE and ARM; to lose all and life itself to KNOW HIS WILL LIVING IN US.
For it is in living HIS WILL and HIS WORD do we lift high HIS BANNER. HIS WILL is our purpose, HIS WORD our armor and our sword. HIS JOY provides the strength to press on in the heat of battle. HIS SONG heals our many wounds that come with service. HIS PRESENCE destroys all fear and doubt. HIS PEACE brings assurance and confirmation during the storm. HIS FAITH energizes and sustains in the midst of darkness. HIS LOVE allows one to stand when and where no one else will hear the call to arms. HIS MERCY AND GRACE is sufficient to destroy the works of the enemy, to save the lost, and restore the disenfranchised.
For this, few were chosen from among the many. For HIS CALL has sounded long and full for all who would hear. Yet even among those who hear few choose to serve. Few choose to serve where there is nothing to gain…. in this world.
All a soldier has is A PROMISE….the PROMISE of our KING…. of rewards unseen….of rewards unimaginable…. of rewards that are forgotten completely in the heat of battle…. through the long hard marches…. during the cold nights as a lone watchman on deserted walls…. for we serve not for what we can not see…. we do not bleed and die for those who never noticed the battles waged…. but for our KING. And HIS WORD. FOR HIS KINGDOM AND HIS PLEASURE ALONE do we serve… all who are soldiers of THE KING.
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