Don't let this be you.

We are at war. You are a part of the front line in this war. The enemy is building weapons but you don't know where or how or how many they have. You are frustrated because you can't find the enemies armory. You decide on day to strike off on your own to find the enemies stronghold. You will be noticed if you wear your uniform so for one day you decide to lay aside your armor and go out in your civilian clothes. You have no weapn at your side and nothing to mark you as one of the soldiers. You walk around not having to watch for the enemy behind you because you blend in with everyone around you. You feel free. Free to just be yourself. You think to yourself, "I can put my armor back on tomorrow. I can be of better service blending in with the world than standing out in the crowd." You know deep down that this is wrong but one day can't hurt. No one in the army camp realizes you were out of uniform because it was only one day. For the next couple of weeks you go out and train with the other soldiers to gear up for the battle. No harm, no foul. Then you get another chance to change into your civilian clothes and sneak away in search of the elusive enemy armory. It was so exhilirating and freeing last time so you once again lay aside your weapon and your protective armor. You feel you are getting closer to finding out where the enemy is building their weapons. You mingle a little more with the enemy. You hear talk of where the armory is. You can't go back to the troops on just talk because you have all attacked other places on just word of mouth and had not done much damage. All the leads had only led to small sites. You want to find the big weapons factory so this war can be ended and you can all go home. After a couple of days out you decide you better get back to the base and back into uniform. No one will know but you look forward to the next time you have a chance to find the freedom and go out again. All with the intent of helping your fellow soldiers find the main factory so you can strike with the final blow. You haven't come across any of your fellow soldiers while in civilian clothes so you are starting to feel that they aren't doing as much to find the enemy stronghold. You don't realize that they have been following orders and standing firm and training the new recruits while you have been out mingling with the enemy. Each day now you stand to be counted with the other soldiers then run back to your barracks to change and go out on your search. You feel you are getting closer to finding your mark. You have started to gain the trust of the people and they are about to take you to the main factory. You have blended in so well that there is no real difference between you and them. Only occasionally you go back to the base and make sure your armor is still where you left it and that it still fits. A few of your fellow soldiers have noticed that you haven't been at training and approach you. You tell them that is is ok, you are on a mission that is important. Everything will be revealed in good time. Your mission is not to be spoken of because it is a secret mission. Being of lower rank and having not been in the army as long as you have, your fellow soldiers accept what you tell them and promise to keep your mission quiet. In the next few weeks you start seeing the magnitude of what you are facing. You have been accepted as one of the enemy and they have taken you into the main factory. They have you helping build the weapons. At first you feel guilty because you are supposed to have your armor on and have your weapon and be taking this fortress down but over time you console yourself with thinking that you have lots of time to go back and put on your armor and pick your weapon back up. First you need to learn all you can about the weapons that the enemy is building. Unknown to you the soldiers back at base have been training and studying. The where abouts of the factory has been discovered and the army is about to march forward in the final battle. Suddenly you hear a loud shout and you realize you are in the camp of the enemy while the whole army is attacking. Your armor and weapon are left behind at the base. You run out yelling to the army that you are one of them and not to shoot you. The soldiers hear you but they no longer recognize you as one of them because you had abandoned your training and you have no armor or weapon that sets you apart from the enemy. You are shot and struck down. You are severely wounded and with all the yelling the enemy has heard you and start to attack you as well because you clain you are not one of them. In all the fighting many fall but with a final shout the army overcomes the enemy and destroys the stronghold. As the army marches through looking for their wounded to take home the Master and Commander comes across you laying there wounded and bleeding. You are almost unrecognizable but the Master looks down and sees in all the blood His mark of one of His soldiers. He picks you up and gently carries you back to the base along with all the other soldiers who were hurt and wounded. The battle is over and it is time to go home. As you are gathering up your uniform to turn in for new clothing for the trip home you notice that although you had claimed to have been a soldier in the army for a long time your uniform is clean and neat. Everyone elses is dirty, torn, and battle worn. The knees are torn out of alot of them and the rest of their armor shows damage from the battles that were fought while you were thinking you were the only one doing what was called for. Little did you know that if you had just stood firm and remained in the ranks with the rest of the soldiers you would have made a greater impact. You would have been ready for the final conflict. You would have had a great victory and not been saved from death by only the smallest of chances. You would have been recognized by your armor and your weapon. When you get home you will have your reward but it won't be the great reward you thought but a humble reward. Those who will recieve the great rewards are those who, through the battle, no matter how tired, not matter how beaten, they stood firm. No matter how heavy and cumbersome their weapons became and how awkward the armor they did not take it off or lay their weapon aside.

This is our war. We need to watch that we do not get caught up and become the soldier who casts off his armor for one day thinking he can do more good in the world than standing firm under the command of the Master. We may feel free for a time but in the end this feeling of freedom entices us away from our focus. Don't let the final battle find us in the camp of the enemy where we are neither with the enemy nor under the protection of our armor with our weapon by our side to fight with. Stand firm under the instruction of our Commanding Officer both in the training and in the battle so that when the final conflict with the enemy is fought we can stand and be counted as one of the faithful to the cause. No matter how heavy our burden it will never be more than we can carry on with and through the battles we can endure with strength and go on even stronger. Don't let the pleasure of being in the world over shadow the ultimate aim of the war. Stand firm so that those who you are fighting know you and in turn fear you for they know with whom you stand and that in the end you will walk through victorious and with great reward waiting for you when the final battle is fought and you have overcome with the strength of your fellow soldiers beside you. Go on knowing that you have fought the good fight and stood firm.