Dave Edgren tells his kids a bedtime story about Michael defeating a dragon in Revelation 12. His son Mikey later declares he'll kill the devil and describes forging a sword. Edgren reflects on how believers have a real role in spiritual battle, not through literal combat but by using their gifts to serve God and lead others toward the kingdom.
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This is Dave on the Edge. One night when I was putting my kids to bed, they asked for a story from the Bible, but they wanted it to be about dragons and swords. And I realized that there was a story in the Bible about a dragon. So I told the story from Revelation 12 about Michael and the dragon and the angels and how Michael defeated the dragon. And a number of weeks later, we were sitting at the dinner table talking about, "What are you gonna be when you grow up? What are you gonna be when you grow up?" That was the question we were asking. And that night as I was putting Mikey to bed, my littlest boy, my middle child, he said, "Dad, I know what I'm gonna do when I grow up." And I said, "Really, Mikey? What are you gonna do when you grow up?" And he said, "I'm gonna kill the devil." I said, "You're gonna what?" He said, "I'm gonna kill the devil." And I said, "How are you gonna kill the devil?" He said, "Well, I guess I'll have to make a sword. I'll melt some metal and make it into a sword and I'll poke him in the tummy." And as a pastor, my mind started going, "I should tell this kid that Jesus died on the cross to save us from the power of sin and that Jesus has defeated the devil." I was so overwhelmed by little Mikey's mind that I had to ask him, "Mikey, what makes you think of all the people in the world that you're the one person who's gonna kill the devil?" And you know, he looked in my eyes and he looked at me like I was missing something really obvious. And he said, "Dad, I am Michael." He had heard his name, Michael, in that story 3 weeks ago about the dragon, and he had realized, "That must be my job." I've been written about in the Bible. I've got to get ready. And you know, the Bible does tell us that we do have a role to play in this end time. But luckily we don't have to kill the devil. And Mikey knows that now. But when we do get involved for God, when we apply our creativity and pick a role that we can serve in that leads other people toward the kingdom, we are doing our bit to bring them to heaven and away from the defeat that the devil is going to have happen to him. This has been Dave on the Edge. Where do you stand?
