No Time for Picnics

It was the strangest picnic in American history. It was July 1861, on a hill in Northern Virginia, overlooking a stream called Bull Run. Coming from church in their Sunday best, the ladies and gentlemen of Washington arrived at the hill overlooking Bull Run in their carriages. They laid out their tablecloths, commenced their picnic, and started passing the fried chicken. Down below, the men in blue and the men in gray mingled their blood in the waters of Bull Run.

How can people have a picnic when there's a battle going on? That's a question God must be asking of His own children - those who are supposed to be the soldiers in His army.

In Numbers 32:6, Moses asks them this haunting question, "Shall you sit here while your brothers go to war?" Great question! How can you just settle into a comfortable little spot while there are battles to fight for God that require every one of us to be in the fight? A picnic while a battle is going on.

Tragically, so many of those who could help rescue the spiritually dying are sitting on a hill with other believers, enjoying the view, passing the blessings, and playing no active role in the battle for human souls.

For you, this is no time to be passing the chicken. It's time to be passing the ammunition! As the great missionary Amy Carmichael said, "We will have all eternity to celebrate our victories, but only a few short hours to win them." We are in those few short hours.