Genghis Khan

After the death of their khan the few Mongol warriors left alive were scattered, their herds lost. Thirteen-year-old Temujin, son of the Khan, eluded his pursuers for days. At last, weakened by hunger, he tried to slip through the bands of Taijut warriors but he was caught. The Taijuts fastened a kang on his shoulders, this was a heavy wooden yoke, with holes for his neck and wrists. Temujin promised himself he would find a way of escape.

One evening the Taijuts held a feast. The soldiers, who were drunk, danced around a blazing campfire, leaving Temujin alone with a single guard.

With the end of his kang he knocked out the guard and fled. A full moon lit his pathway, but the wooden yoke hindered him, and he could hear the warriors who chased him coming up close behind. His heart pounding, he raced toward the river. There he hid himself among the rushes, with only his head showing above the murky waters.

As the warriors searched the bank, one man saw him, but he did not betray his hideout. Encouraged, Temujin took a desperate chance. He followed the men back to their camp and crept into the tent of the one who had seen him in the rushes.

“Please, help me,” the dripping boy whispered as he crawled toward the embers of the fire.

The stranger split the kang and burned the pieces. “I will be killed if they find you here,” the man said. “Go away quickly to your people.”

The boy who escaped that night became the great Genghis Khan, the fearless chieftain who led the Mongols in their conquest of Asia during the thirteenth century.

Are you, like Temujin, held captive in the enemy camp? Has the devil fastened a heavy yoke about your neck? Are you burdened by a heavy load of sin and guilt? Jesus can break the yolk. Fall on your knees and whisper, “Lord Help me!” He will set you free.

The mighty Mongol hordes of Genghis Khan had swept off the Gobi Desert to capture the kingdom of Cathay (China). General Chepe Noyon was given the task of taking the seaport of Liao-yang. However, his bows and arrows were powerless against the fortified city. His soldiers tried to climb the walls but were beaten back by the men on top. He had no way to knock down the walls, and the enemy garrison refused to come out and fight.

“If we can’t take them with arrows, we will take them with our brains,” Chepe Noyon said, his dark eyes blazing. “We will trick them into thinking we have retreated.”  

The Mongolians must have chuckled to themselves as they rode off one morning, leaving their tents, carts, and baggage behind. They took only their herds with them as they slowly retreated. For two days they marched slowly away from Liao-yang. Then in the darkness of the second night they mounted their fastest horses and sped back to the city, arriving there shortly after dawn.

The gates of the city were wide open. No guards stood on the walls. All the people from the city were busy plundering the abandoned camp. Even the children had been enlisted to help carry loot back to their homes. The soldiers had laid down their weapons and were working alongside the townspeople.

Chepe Noyan and his soldiers rode straight through the open gates and took the city.

Your mind is like the walled city of Liao-yang. As long as you keep the gates locked and your guards on duty, there is no way for satan to take control.

But the devil is every bit as smart as Chepe Noyan. If he can’t take your mind by force, then he will try it with trickery. He will make you think he has retreated; he’s counting on you to open your gates so he can ride in.

There are five gates to the city of your mind. They are the five senses. The Bible tells us the devil is a schemer. The only way satan can reach your mind is through your eyes, ears, mouth, nose, or sense of touch. Meditate on the ways he lures you to open each of these gates.