Last week I enjoyed the fruits of a revived hobby of mine. I had taken a season or two off from beekeeping after a not-so-glorious first attempt several years back. It wasn't a great year for honey since the summer's first heavy rain came just as the long-awaited sourwood blooms appeared. However, I was blessed with more honey than some, and I remembered the lessons I had learned the last time I robbed the hives. Some of you may remember my story about taking the honey and putting it in my garage, not realizing how good bees were at finding what they had worked so hard to produce. I'll never forget the sight of that swarm and having to walk right into the middle of it to get the bee suit I needed to start the whole process over again. I didn't make that mistake again, and there were new lessons to be learned this year. Thanks to Tony and Dana Southern who sold me the hives, I learned how to spot the queen, how check to see how she was laying, even how to raise a new queen and start a new colony. And, as the summer wore on, I learned what would be a no-brainer to most of us: you don't mess with the hives unless you're wearing your bee-suit, especially when you're young in the hobby and the bees can detect your nerves. It actually took a couple of times of getting stung during what I thought would be simple, non-disturbing procedures, before I vowed to alway work fully clothed with protection.
It might not take too many bee stings before making such a vow, but what would it take for us to vow to face each day's challenges of life fully clothed with the armor of God? Do we wake up each day with the awareness that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" as Paul explains in Ephesians 6? I mean, really? Is that our conscious reality? Do our lives reflect that we have taken Peter's warning seriously when he said, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour"? Satan's mind is not set on tempting us. He wants to kill us! To "steal, kill and destroy" is the way Jesus put it in John 10. Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God so that we may take our stand against the devil's schemes. I'm pretty sure if we were fully aware of what he is scheming to do we would be much more motivated to suit up.
Here's my take on the pieces of the armor Paul mentions. The "belt of truth" that holds the pieces together and on which the weapons hang is remembering the truth of our new identity in Christ. By faith in Christ's death and resurrection for us, we become, not slaves, but sons and daughters of God and blood-brothers with Jesus Christ. We are no longer just sinners saved by grace, but now are saints being formed in the image of Christ. We are no longer slaves to sin, but are free. We are co-heirs with Christ and we have access to all that He earned on our behalf. He is our life (at least He wants to be) and in him is the abundant life.
The "breastplate of righteousness" that we put on was earned by Jesus' perfect performance. Because of it, the enemy has no power to condemn us any more with those foul words, "Look at you! You're nothing but a ________! You might as well give up and give in to who you "really are" because you'll never be good enough!" By putting on the breastplate of Christ's righteousness, we protect our hearts from the attacks on our true identity in Christ that come from Satan and often through the one's in our lives that we love the most. He was and is "good enough" in our place. And, when we act in obedience and our lives are consistent with this righteousness, we don't give the devil "a foothold." If we realized how much power we give the enemy over us when we sin, we would be much more motivated to fight and not give in to temptation.
The "shoes of the gospel of peace" that we are encouraged to wear each day remind us of our new purpose and calling. A Christian's life is not his own any more, but he now shares Christ's mission of reconciling people with God through the good news of the peace Jesus made available to us. By focusing on what we are now about, we are not as vulnerable to the enemy's efforts to distract and derail us into making life about us and our own comfort again.
The "shield of faith" combats the original lies of Satan: You can't trust God and you're on your own to make sure your needs are met. If you think about it, every temptation to sin is just an attempt to entice us to look to something besides God to meet our needs and desires. In a time of great economic challenges, the world needs to see us putting our faith in God and not allowing Satan to rob us of our peace and our purpose of living to bring God glory.
The "helmet of Salvation" protects our minds and the control center of our bodies as we remember what Jesus has done and what it cost him. It took one sin to corrupt the entire human race and to require Jesus' death on the cross. Would we give in to Satan's lie that sin is no big deal, that it's inevitable, that "it's covered anyway so enjoy it" if we were aware of what our salvation cost Jesus or how our sin breaks the heart of God? We are saved, and the truth is we have His Spirit in us that is willing and able to resist every effort of the enemy to lead us into life-sucking, glory of God diminishing sin. And the helmet of salvation reminds us that WE ARE LOVED!
The "Sword of the Spirit, the word of God" is the weapon in hand that Paul tells us to wield against the enemy. Satan, the father of lies, flees whenever truth is swung at him. He knows his power is in his deception. He constantly throws out, "You're alone and on your own." "You're not lovable." "You'll never be good enough." Or, "You could be good enough if you would just try harder." "You need this or that to feel complete." The truth is we are not alone and never forsaken. God has proven how much he loves us, that "while we were still sinners Christ died for us." We will never be good enough, but Christ is good enough for us. And we are complete in Christ, and all we need is what He supplies! You and I need to know scripture so we can "remind" Satan of the the truth and that he has been defeated.
And last, Paul tells us to "pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." If you and I ever want to know that our prayers are powerful and effective, we will need to grasp what Paul is talking about when he says to "pray in the Spirit." (That phrase would be something great to study or even "google"!) When we agree with what the Spirit that lives in us is already praying, and allow our voices to speak it out, something powerful happens in the effort to bring the kingdom of God to earth. Satan's schemes will again be thwarted.
So may you and I live in reality as God's word describes, with an awareness of what we are facing as we go about each day. And may we vow to suit up each day so that we take our stand against the devil's schemes.
(Men, if you would like to grow in understanding the reality of the story you were born into, who you are in Christ, and how to fight against what the enemy is up to as he schemes against you, your wife and your children, you may want to read "Wild at Heart" and "Waking the Dead" by John Eldredge and check out a retreat opportunity at the end of October at www.bandofbrothersweekend.org.)
No comments:
Post a Comment