I am sure most have seen a burling cloud of smoke rising up in the sky signaling to all around that something is burning. Most individuals have a curiosity to see what is burning and how bad the devastation is.

I imagine David and his mighty men became alarmed when they saw the smoke rising from the direction of their homes. I am sure their battle worn bodies were in need of a time of rest and pleasure with their families, only to be shaken with concern. In 1 Sam 30:1-6 we read that these mighty warriors who were coming to Ziklag after a three-day travel from the Philistine’s camp were devastated beyond their capacity of remaining strong and focused.

When they saw that their houses had been burned and their wives and children had been taken away captive, it says in verse 4 that they, “lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.” These men of war were driven to their

How long will we just sit by and watch our children and families be carried away down the road to destruction.   (tweet)

knees knowing that the Amalekites who they had recently brought havoc on and brought to the sword now had their children and families (1 Sam. 27:8-9). Why wouldn’t these murderous savages and fierce warriors not ravage and kill in revenge. This is what David and his men are picturing in their mind as they slide down the slopes of hopelessness.

Why has so many in the church succumbed to the same if not worse predicament with our families and children? We have been off building our careers and egos much as David’s army had been. We have allowed ourselves to be deceived in thinking that our children are safe and out of harms way much like this story. Yet, I believe we are in a much worse dilemma for we are not even concerned with the signs and smell of smoke invading our society.

All down through history we have seen the enemies attempt to carry our children away into captive and ultimately destroy them. John 10:10 says, “The thief

Don’t be messing with my kid!  (tweet)

does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” The enemy’s mission statement is to do everything he can to plunder our children which are gifts from God.

The enemy used Pharaoh in Exod 1:22 to try and stop the deliverer by killing the children when Moses was born. Again, we see the enemy used a threatened Herod to try and kill the coming deliverer by destroying the children when Jesus was also born (Matt 2:16). And now in our generation we see the horrific consequences of the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing abortion some 44 years ago in 1973. The debate of who has the right, the mother or the baby pales in light of the havoc that has played into the hands of the enemy’s agenda of killing estimates more than 59 million unborn children in America since that dreadful day says National Right to Life Committee in their “The State of Abortion in the United States”. This is just another plot to stop children to rise up and deliver a generation from their looming bondage.

How long will we just sit by and see our children and families be carried away down the road to destruction. The onslaught of the enemy’s fiery darts (Eph 6:12) towards our innocent children can be over whelming and eternally impacting. The deluge of drugs, pornography, open immorality and identity confusion has bombarded our young people from every side, all the while have been absent mentally and physically. It’s time to fight for our children and families as we build a wall of protection like Nehemiah. (Neh. 4:14). Don’t be messing with my kid!