9/23/13:

TFTD: “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the work of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” Ephesians 6:13-18

The armor of God is a very well-known passage in Ephesians, and is usually talked about piece by piece describing what each piece means and how to use them. I want to look at this passage in a little bit broader way. Back in the time when the bible was being written this analogy of armor was perfect for them, because when they were at war they had to wear all of these things. Helmets, breastplates, and shields were all important for the safety of the men during battle. My question is what happened when their armor got damaged? I am sure they took it to someone who had the tools to fix or repair it so that they could continue to be the best soldier that they could be.

            I think today we are a lot like those soldiers. We all wear the armor of God on a daily basis, and sometimes we get dings, scratches, or holes in our armor and have to bring it to someone who knows how to fix it. They obvious way to resolve this would be to tell you that God is our blacksmith who will fix and repair our armor, which is all well and true, but it’s not where I am going with this. We as soldiers are not fighting this battle alone. We are in an army, and there are a lot of other soldiers here with us. We are designed to be in this army together and not by ourselves, which means that we are all responsible for those who are around us. When another person is struggling to put on the belt of truth, help them out. Help them to understand the truth and put that belt on. We are called into this great fellowship called the army of God so let’s do our best to keep fighting the good fight and helping others do the same.

“When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.” –John Ruskin