The Roman soldier was called a legionary. He was typically armed with a sword called a gladius and a shield called a scutum. All of his equipment together weight approximately 45 pounds. Discipline was the order of the day resulting in hours of arduous drills. A legionary could walk up to 20 miles a day in full equipment. He was molded with others in his cohort to be a well oiled machine totally in step with his unit knowing his place in the operation.

 

This seemingly simple task of marching was the first step for a roman soldier. Before being trained in combat, you first had to learn to march in step with your unit fully equipped. When Paul is commanding endurance, he uses the soldier as his example, and it becomes abundantly clear why. As the soldier marches in step, we are also to keep in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-25) as He is our spiritual commander.

 

This leads us to the next point, we need to focus on the commander’s cadence. Read more…