Why Meester Bond, I've been expecting you...

***Warning - Very limited metaphor approaching - take cover***

Last week I was away on the Good Book Company's Bible Centred Youthworker conference. I go every year, and every year it's excellent. I suppose I could write a review of the whole thing, but that's not what this is about.

We were looking at Romans 8 in quite some detail, including looking at what it means to battle sin throughout our lives. This morning, I got to thinking (I really must stop doing that) about what it means to battle against something when the fight has already been decisively won, and that's when I realised: it's all about James Bond.

What's the one thing you know for certain when you watch any Bond film?

You know that Bond will live (spoiler alert).

In old Bond, the fight scenes included a few well thrown punches and perhaps a little light peril, but that would be soon followed up by a shucking of the cuffs and a throw-away remark. Old Bond breezed into and out of his fights like they were nothing.

If we think of the Christian life and the battle with sin like this, we're going to end up feeling pretty rubbish and under par, perhaps even start to feel like giving up.

I think we're more like new Bond: blonder, bigger, fitter...

Actually no, I think we're like new Bond because when he gets into a fight, it hurts. He ends up battered, bruised and bloodied, hospitalised and on the point of death, even, but he's still Bond, he still survives. The outcome is certain, so the battle is unpleasant for certain, but assured.

We don't battle sin daily in the hope of a particular outcome, but in the certain knowledge of it.

I think sometimes we need to be better at acknowledging the war wounds we get.

But don't forget, Mish Moneypenny, Bond always lives.