Ephesians 6:10-18
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For 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. 13 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvationand the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
My son has a plastic Frisbee with a strap on it to make it appear to be a certain “super hero’s” shield. On the toy, it clearly states that it is “not a weapon”. Wow! Can you imagine going into battle with a toy Frisbee? How could anyone really think that the flimsy plastic shield was battle-worthy?
We often go into our spiritual battles just as unprepared. We must embrace the whole armor of God. And, the shield that we carry into the battle must be nothing less than faith in God. No fakes, no toys, no substitutes. It would be as foolish to go into a spiritual battle without the full armor of God as it would be to carry a Frisbee into an earthly battle. There’s just no substitution for the real thing.
Dear God, please help us keep our connection to you strong and renew our faith. Help us to stay fully clothed in the armor of God and in the center of your will. When spiritual attacks happen, help us to rely on you to fight them for us. All we bring to the battle is our puny toy Frisbees. We want Your protection and Your divine armor. Amen and Amen.