PUT IT ON

Finally, my brethren, be strong

in the Lord, and in the power
of His might.
Put on the whole armor of God,
that ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil.
Ephesians 6:10,11

For years, the book of Ephesians has been a favorite of mine. At various times, I have found comfort, assurance of salvation, instruction, and strength from that book. By now, I know just where to go in Ephesians where I know the Holy Spirit will speak to me in a very personal way to meet my immediate need. The book is often known primarily for the information we receive regarding the Spiritual Armor of God.

This subject is one of many passages of Scripture that are misunderstood, misused and very often even ignored. We may have seen a picture posted in a Sunday school room of a Roman soldier all decked out in full battle attire. It's impressive and as we read in Ephesians chapter six that each part of that soldiers attire represents a spiritual quality We learn the expectation is that those represented spiritual attributes are available to us to be a part of our own spiritual beings. These attributes are meant to strengthen us against the attacks of the Devil whose intent is for our spiritual detriment or even destruction.

My concern is that in viewing the the picture of that Roman soldier, I may lose sight of Paul's teaching regarding the armor's meaning. Very often as I read about it, the main things that stick in my mind is the picture I have of each piece of the armor instead of what they represent spiritually. I would venture to say that many if not most of us could recite the pieces of armor spoken of in this section of Scripture...helmet, belt, breastplate, shoes or sandals, shield, and sword. I listed those with very little thought or referring to my very worn memory.

In all of this, it is interesting that we are told to put on the whole armor of God. Notice, God won't just put this armor on us. It's actually things we must put on ourselves with the help of the Holy Spirit. This is armor we must crave and voluntarily put into our own lives. I've said before that God is a Gentleman. There are just situations where He will not force Himself upon us. This army we are a part of is made up of volunteers.

So what are the spiritual qualities we are to put on hopefully with great anticipation:

Helmet—salvation
Belt—truth
Breastplate—righteousness
Feet shod—gospel of peace
Shield—faith
Sword—Scripture

Without salvation, the rest just won't happen as God has prescribed. TRUTH is a kind of glue that holds it all together in our lives. RIGHTEOUSNESS is living rightly as God ordains. Feet on our bodies gives us the security of standing, moving appropriately...gotta have the feet. The GOSPEL does that for us giving us a spiritual stability and empowerment to go with His message. FAITH is who we are in God, trusting, finding our hope and security in Him. God is our great defender. And then there is SCRIPTURE...our marching orders for every day we live and breath. It's God's communication to us interpreted and taught to us by the Holy Spirit. By the way, it's the only offensive piece of our spiritual armor. Our shield we hold up in Satan's face as we resist his evil darts shot at us. But with the sword, the Word, that's what we use. The rest of the armor is basically protective.

I also notice that we are to put on the WHOLE armor of God. Leave any one of those pieces of spiritual protection to one side and Satan will know it. He will know exactly where our weaknesses are and will strike in those vulnerable areas. Satan doesn't want us to be righteous, truthful, or stable in our faith. He's smart using our weaknesses to his advantage.

The armor is God's provision for our strength and protection. The armor isn't just a list of items, but a list of spiritual qualities intended for our good. We live today in a dark and evil culture. The only way we survive is with God's help. Our encouragement is that in the end, we know Who WINS the ultimate battle. For the time being, let's not give the Devil an inch.

Thank You, dear Jesus, for saving us and for equipping us to not only be in fellowship with You, but also to stand against the attacks of Satan on our lives. Help us to know that Your provided armor is not a costume of some sort, but represent qualities vital to our spiritual welfare. I thank You, praise You and pray these things in Your precious name...Amen