Daily Journal: 19 August

Ready

Every day we decide what to put on. We choose the colour, shape, fit and practicality of our clothes for the purpose of our activity. We make ourselves ready.

I wouldn’t wear high heels on the sand, or hiking boots in an office. I don’t wear a cocktail dress to work or a uniform to a barbeque. I don’t put my make up on when I go bed. We make daily choices of appropriateness and practicality every day for our dress needs.

The bible gives us spiritual armour to make us ready every day to meet spiritual opposition, and it never changes.

Ephesians 6:13-18 (GNT)

So put on God's armour now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy's attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground.

¹⁴ So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate, ¹⁵ and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace. ¹⁶ At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One. ¹⁷ And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you. ¹⁸ Do all this in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God's people.

Every piece of armour is a protective defence against evil, and we have one piece for attack. We are told to always be ready with it for whenever evil comes against us. But we are not to be afraid or grow weary of evil. Prayer, the final instruction in this scripture, helps us to put on the armour, and it helps us to keep alert and never give up.

There are always attacks against the child of God because we know we are caught up in a spiritual war that will never stop until Satan is finally defeated. Thankfully, we know he will be, so we are warned to stand strong, wearing this armour until that very day.

Using the Roman soldier's armour as an example, we can see how it is used militarily in the spiritual realm.

• The belt of truth wraps around us and ‘girds’ us, holding us steady and strong.

• The breastplate of right-living covers and protects our heart.

• The shoes of peace claim the ground we walk on and brings change to the environment we’re in.

• The shield of faith we carry against every spiritual attack – words spoken or actions brought against us. The roman shield was originally wood, covered with leather, and was soaked in water before battle so that when fiery arrows were hurled, they would have no effect.

• The helmet of salvation brings us to saving grace, and addresses our thought life.

• The sword of the Spirit that we use is our one weapon of attack. The sword was a short dagger, hidden and drawn when used in hand-to-hand combat. This is God’s word against spiritual darkness, hidden in our heart and drawn on our tongue. It is double-edged, able to discern every evil threat and spoken to bring spiritual enemies down.

• Constant prayer keeps us connected to our heavenly Father, and praying through the Spirit, helps us to be led by the Spirit through every occasion.

When we put on this armour, we have to be deliberate about it. We are to wear it with full knowledge of what we’re wearing and appropriate each piece intentionally. We are wearing it for a purpose and we are to be purposeful with it for it to be effective. We are to be ready to wear it, and then we are made ready.