Full Armor

The following "devotional" is excerpted from a newsletter I write for our local Women's Auxiliary of Gideons International. I decided to post it here too--add it to my collection, so to speak.

"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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."” (Ephesians 6: 13-17)

This very familiar passage was read by Mrs. B_____, our chaplain, in the Auxiliary portion of the July Camp Meeting. Mrs. B____'’s point was that with such an armor, our victory is sure! Most certainly, and I would like to share a few thoughts I have about this passage. Note first that every part of the armor is from God: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes made ready by the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation. In the days of Paul, the Roman soldier was responsible for procuring the parts of his armor, it was not endowed to him by virtue of being in the army. The armor God gives us was purchased for us by the death and resurrection of Jesus; it is a gift we received when we joined His army. Next note what the armor is composed of: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, and salvation. I could reference each one of these and find that Jesus Christ is truth, is righteousness, is the gospel of peace, is faith, and is salvation. When we put on the armor of God, we put on Christ! And look! We are girded round about: our waist, our hearts, our feet, our whole bodies, and our heads. There is nothing not guarded! Finally, did you ever consider the weight of full armor? In medieval times, a knight in full armor needed to be hefted on to his horse by ropes and pulleys. In contrast, Jesus says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.” (Matt 11:29, 30) This brings to mind David as he faced Goliath. Saul dressed David in his own armor; however, David found it too heavy so faced Goliath without physical armor, but rather with the armor of God, with his confidence in the truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation of God. Let us go into the world with the armor that David wore, as we hold out the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. We are already dressed for battle, and with our Bibles and New Testaments in hand, we have been given tools for effective witness. Let us take courage and do our King honor as we proclaim his Word.