And when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. – Deut. 7:2

Scripture reading: Deut. 7:1-6

God lists seven nations “more numerous and mightier than you.” That is a fearful prospect, but God promises His help in taking the land. He will defeat their enemies. Why? Because they are His chosen people and a holy nation. You too are God’s holy people, His chosen nation, and are engaged in a battle against sin. The church also battles against the false ideologies that keep our neighbor in slavery. We can have confidence that God will use us to expand His glory. God promises to be with us.

Since the World Wars, Orthodox churches in North America have been gloomy in their outlook on the future of the church. There is a sense that things will get worse and worse, and they have. Today, we fight against the lies of evolution, of homosexual activists, and of people within the church who give in to false ideologies. The church is failing in her calling. Deut. 7 reminds the church of the gracious electing purpose of God and should give her boldness in her mission. God promises to be with us in the task He calls us to. We now have maturity in Christ and know we are called to do this through a witness to our Lord Jesus, which means suffering. (We might lose our tax-exempt status, our Christian schools and our status in society.) It might even mean martyrdom. Remember Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:20, “Our God is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think according to the power at work within us.”

Suggestions for prayer

Pray that God may give us wisdom and confidence as we seek to stand before God and man as a witness to the righteousness of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Rev. James Zekveld is the pastor of the Ambassador Canadian Reformed Church In Niverville, MB.