Claiming Your Ground

I was not even a flick of dust in my parents' eyes when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. I was not a part of history that day. I don't know if the weather was sunny or raining. I can't tell you what the local newspaper reported. But, I do know that the footage of that day will forever be etched in mind just as if I had been sitting on my couch watching it as it happened.

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So many things about that famous video intrigue me. The way they bounce around and look as if they are going to shoot off of it at any moment. The way they look like aliens in their astronaut gear. How dark the background is. It is blacker than black. I don't even know if there is a word that can begin to describe that type of darkness.

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But, the one thing that really gets me every single time is when Neil Armstrong took that pole with our flag attached and stuck it down into the moon's surface. He was staking claim that the United States had been there. I can remember doing that as a child. Playing in the yard and taking a stick, driving it into the ground and telling my friends "Now, this is MY land from this stick to this stick" and almost daring them to cross it. Have you ever claimed your ground before?

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You know sometimes in our Christian lives we don't claim our ground. We listen to what other people say or think and we begin to ponder on their idea and before we know it we are unsure of where we stand on the issue. We must have roots, we must drive that pole into the ground and claim our ground. "...since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away." Matthew 13:21

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I'm not one that can walk around quoting scripture and many times when I hear a story from the Bible I think "I sure didn't know that" but when I get into a situation where someone is trying to question my beliefs, question my faith I just smile and shake my head. Why? Because I cannot be moved! I have staked my claim! I know way down into my knower what I believe and I believe it whole heartily and nothing and I mean nothing will ever change that. Have you claimed your ground?