HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, February 18, 2025 – When it starts, it will happen so suddenly, you won’t realize it’s started until after you catch your breath. You won’t want to be caught then with your spiritual pants down around your ankles, because the odds will not be in your favor if that happens. Which is why Jesus warned us always to watch and always to keep our loins girded. He means we should always be spiritually ready. If we’re spiritually ready, we won’t be caught with our pants down.

And we’ve all had that, as a teaser, as a tester, being caught unawares, in a moment of slackness, resting on our lees, taking our ease with our pants down around our ankles, and it wasn’t pretty. God puts us through our paces so we can experience how horrible that feels and learn to do whatever it takes not to let that happen again. Some of us had to go through those paces a few times and then a few times again before we finally learned what we needed to learn to God’s satisfaction. Because I guarantee you, you will not know when it starts that it has actually started, but you’ll still, by default – by training – need to respond at the top of your game.

When Jesus began his ministry work, he was like a kindergarten teacher corralling wayward children and trying his best to hold their attention with miracles and breathless stories. He handed out cures like lollipops and exorcisms like gold stars, and everyone who wanted one, got one. As his ministry progressed, he became more like a high school teacher, entrusting his best students with a small portion of his duties, sending them out two by two with strict instructions, all while keeping a close eye on the slackers lounging at the back cracking jokes. By the end of his ministry, Jesus had morphed into a full-blown drill sergeant. Even his finest recruits didn’t escape his wrath when it was called for. He needed them to fully internalize the blunt brutal seriousness of the work they were called to do, that it was an all-or-nothing situation, and that if they weren’t willing to give it their all, they had no place in his Kingdom.

We are now in the age of drill sergeant Jesus. The time for kindergarten Jesus and high school teacher Jesus is over. This is war we’re preparing for. We’ve already endured a few initial skirmishes, but the trumpet has yet to blow. We can still pray not to be here when the trumpet blows. But if it does and we’re here, we need to be ready, not just somewhat ready or good-enough ready or (my personal favorite) Jesus-will-take-care-of-everything ready, but special-ops-trained and loins-girded ready. Anything less, and we won’t make it.

You can’t run with your pants down around your ankles, and you’ll be doing lots of running in this war. You’ll be running towards the enemy as much as you’ll be running away, but there will be running. So you might as well settle in your mind now to be ready to run not at a moment’s notice, but at a millisecond’s.

ATTENNNNNN-CHUNN!

Chin up!

Chest out!

Gut in!

I said GUT IN!

Weapons ready!

Loins girded!

WATCH!