"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
— Ephesians 6:10-11
When I was younger, my parents enrolled me for a few summers of taekwondo. I guess it had something to do with getting me out of the house so I wouldn't grow moulds on my back during school break.
One of my favourite activities was going on a sparring session. I always opted to go into one without the prescribed armour. That's until one day when a side kick went rogue and hit me hard on the abdomen. From that point on, I was grateful every time I wore an armour.
Because the Christian walk is more like being in a war zone than a walk in the park, we are prescribed to with spiritual armour as well. Ephesians 6 lines up for us what these armours look like:
■ Belt of Truth
■ Breastplate of Righteousness
■ Shoes of the Readiness of the Gospel
■ Shield of Faith
■ Helmet of Salvation
■ Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God
To be completely honest, putting on these armour pieces isn't always fun, and often we find ourselves making do without them. We put aside the truth, righteousness, faith or even the readiness of the gospel because it's just going to be a "normal day."
In the same way that I was unaware of the value of my martial arts armour, we find ourselves unaware of the value of our spiritual armour. As a result, we belittle it and cast it aside.
How many times have you gone in a day without the Word of God (which is the sword of the Spirit)? How many times do we find the joy of God's salvation slip off our tongues and be filled instead with complaints?
But it's when we go without God's armour that the enemy attacks us most. He tempts us, deceives us, and discourages us most when we are unarmed. As a result, we have those days when we're just off sync in the spirit and exhausted. We go on unprotected as we walk this war zone called life.
It might be time you put that armour back on.
What we need is more than just an obligation to put on armour but an urgency built by being thankful that God has given us this armour.
Do you see the true value of God's armour? If you do, then be grateful for it.
But you cannot fully maximise all of God's armour without the final piece, which is gratefulness.
Remember that at no point did you deserve protection, but it was through the finished work of Christ that He gave you protection from the schemes of the enemy not because we deserve it, but simply because of God's grace.
Be grateful for that armour. See its full value and put it on. You'll never want to take it off after that.
