The Helmet and the Sword
“ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Ephesians 6:11;17
I never knew that I am to put on an armor of a warrior daily. Personally, I don’t like wars. I don’t like fights and to fight. I thought that I am not a warrior and never going to be. Until the moment I read in the Bible that we are to put the full armor of God to be able to protect yourself from the enemy, every single day. It came as a surprise to me. I didn’t want to arm myself for a fight. All I wanted is to live in peace.
As days went by, I noticed some weird things happening to me. As I continued living through my daily life of going to work, taking care of home and my daughter, I started noticing different types of thoughts that were occupying my mind and stealing my peace away. Those were negative thoughts about myself, my life and my future. They were clouding my mind and taking me away from the peace I was longing for.
As I prayed, the Word of God about the armor we are to put on ourselves started revealing the wisdom they carried in themselves. The Word of God is truly alive and active. I realized that we are at a constant fight with dark spirits and not an enemy in flesh. It’s not a person we have to struggle against. All these negative thoughts are coming from the Devil who wants to steal our joy and destroy our peace. And our part in this fight against him by armoring ourselves with the tools that God provided.
“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the Devil’s schemes.”
’’Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”
The Lord says to put on the helmet of salvation. Why do we need it? Well, when we go snowboarding, we never forget to put a helmet on to protect our head from an injury in case we fall. The same thing we must do in our daily lives. We must put on the helmet to protect our head from all the lies and negative thoughts that Satan sends to ruin our day. It’s good to have protection in case of an attack.
God also gave us a tool to fight back. It’s the sword. It’s okay if you never held one in your hands before. Me neither. The sword of the Spirit here is referred to the Word of God. It’s the Word of the Lord from the Bible. When we read the Scripture and remember the Word, our Holy Spirit can pull out the right verses at the right time to fight off the dark spirits. Simple example, when you start thinking about your life as a boring life with nothing good happening to you, the Holy Spirit who lives within you can pull out this word-sword and fight back the dark thoughts. Such as, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" from Jeremiah 29:11. Immediately, the hope ignites in your soul and you get your joy back, because you know that God always says the truth and He always keeps His promises.
Once I realized it, I am eagerly putting on the full armor of God every morning to be equipped and ready to fight off all the negativity, so that I can be joyful and glad in every single day that God gives us as a gift to treasure and be grateful for.
Blessed be the LORD.
Amen.
Live and Rejoice.
