Have you ever thought about what it means to put on the full armor of God? We all have read the passages in Ephesians that refer to this armor. In case you need a refresher, let’s take another look.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. – Ephesians 6:10-18
Have you ever noticed how much of God’s “armor” is the Bible? The belt of truth in verse 14, that truth is the Bible. Our feet of readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace…that Gospel is the one and only in the Bible. Our Helmet of salvation and our Sword of the Spirit, both are the word of God which is, of course, the Bible.
So much of the “armor” God wants us to put on is about being prepared with knowledge and wisdom of God’s Holy word. Some of my friends and I have had a recent revelation about just how important this armor is. We all deal with sin and the struggle to keep Satan out of our lives. Whether it be depression, confusion, fear, addictions, time management, or a whole list of other possibilities, one thing that stands true is the battle is real. Paul is aware of this in his message to the Ephesians. That’s why this protection we seek from the Lord is referred to as “armor”. Here’s the catch though; just because we put the armor of God on one day doesn’t mean it stays on every day. In other words, we have to find ourselves in God’s word daily in order to remain protected from whatever foothold Satan can get on us. The moment we stop the routine of daily living in the word is the moment we have handed our armor back to God and said, “I don’t need this anymore, I can do it on my own.” Guess what friends, you can’t…and neither can I! No one can. It is not by our own accord or own strength that we ever defeat Satan, it is through the power of the Holy Spirit. So remember, your daily time in the word is extremely valuable and important whether you feel it daily or not. Every bit you read will better prepare you for when Satan attacks. My experience is, when I’m solidly in the word, I don’t even see the attacks around me because the Spirit goes before and fights my battles for me. So, put on the full armor of God today. And then tomorrow, when you get up, be sure you put it back on again!
Blessings,
Derek
