Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. Ephesians 6:10-12 HCSB
Stand therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word. Ephesians 6:14-17 HCSB
You may recognize today’s title as a quote from an insurance commercial. We buy insurance because we want to be protected. We like to feel secure. We invest good money in things like house alarms, security cameras, large dogs, fences and gates to keep our home secure. But, are you keeping your family secure?Perhaps you are running through a mental checklist like alarm system, firearms, watchdog, deadbolts, and if you have all those, good for you. But is your family wearing their armor every day?
Police officers are provided with a certain amount of protective gear, like bullet proof vests. It does them no good, however, if they don’t put them on. Same way with God’s armor. We can have locks on our doors and alarms on our homes and cars, but if we don’t set them they are useless. God gives us armor, but we must choose to use it.
So, let’s pretend for a moment. Pretend that you desperately need 1,000.00 for an expense that has come up. Let’s pretend that you go to church regularly, you tithe, and God has miraculously provided you with ten one hundred dollar bills. Would you drive into a busy section of a big city like say, New Orleans, and park your car on the street, leave the doors unlocked and display your one hundred dollar bills across the dash? I would hope not. That’s just crazy, right? If you do, then I hope you will not be surprised when you return to find your money gone. So why do we do that with our eternal lives?
We all desperately need salvation. But we leave ourselves exposed to the devil. We fail to utilize the armor at our disposal. We allow ourselves to be put into the devil’s hands. We allow our families to be put into the devil’s hands. We are busy protecting our homes and our families from intruders, but we leave our souls and the souls of our loved ones wide open to the devil. We need God’s armor every day. The best way to suit up in God’s armor is through bible study and prayer. Also, if you are going to fight a battle, wouldn’t you rather have any army? When we belong to a community of believers, we have an army. Now if you don’t think the devil has an army prepared to come against you and your family, you kid yourself, my friend. This is why we need to go to church and get involved in church. We need to align ourselves with fellow believers and be prepared to stand firm. It’s a lot easier to stand firm when we are in God’s hands and we have his protection.
Priscilla Shirer wrote a wonderful book and bible study called The Armor of God. We did this study at our church and I highly recommend it.
Like the insurance company, I ask, are you in good hands? More importantly are you leading your family and training them to remain in good hands? Just as we have a choice in insurance companies, we have a choice in whether or not we choose to live under God’s protection. Psalm 91 is a wonderful Psalm of protection. I encourage you to read it when you are feeling vulnerable to attack. Our scripture passage today tells us that we must choose to put on the full armor of God. God wants us to come to Him and be safe, but He is not going to run and throw some sort of protective net around us. We must choose to dwell in His shelter (Psalm 91:1).
In order to put on God’s armor, we must seek His righteousness. We must walk in His ways. When we do this, He provides the armor and He will also provide the hedge of protection. If you are taking measures to keep your family safe here on earth, why would you not want to protect them against an eternity in hell?
Submit yourself to God, and be an example for your family, and then you will know that you are in good hands.
Have a great day!