Fully Prepared

6.10.2011

Ephesians 6:11 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. NIV

There’s no sense in going into battle (something I’ve never done militarily) without being fully prepared. There is no sense in using money if counterfeit currency cannot be recognized. There is no sense in trying to withstand an enemy without the wherewithal to actually stand firm. This is what Paul is saying in Ephesians 6 – put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes; it’ so important that he says it twice.

Not only am I to put on the armor, I’m to use it, and know how to use it. That’s discipleship.  There is also no sense in putting off the battle until tomorrow. That’s apathy. The schemes of the devil are real and they are intentionally employed to attack my faith, my witness, and my effectiveness. And the schemes are relentless, therefore, put on the full armor of God – even the pieces that may seem a bit uncomfortable or cumbersome or the ones that chafe.

Fully prepared, I am to go into battle today. I am to approach the rest of this day in faith, but in somberness knowing that at any moment I will be attacked, and that around every corner is a scheme or a trap designed to take me down. So, I am to approach this day humbly knowing that I am to put on the armor and walk in submission to the Lord trusting in His mighty power and the armor He’s supplied that I may be aware, equipped, and able to take my stand in the moments of battle I’ll encounter today.

Some of those battles will be so intensely subtle that without being faithfully alert, they’ll escape my attention… like the battles of distraction. I must keep my eyes open to what is really happening around me and beware of those things that lull me into complacency or divert my attention away to myself. That one is hard because the yard needs mowed, that laundry needs done; and the bills need paid. But those things, as important as they are, cannot be a replacement for taking my stand in the Lord. I have to learn to multi-task – one hand on my sword and the other “placing the brick.”

Father in Heaven,
You know my weaknesses and the areas of my life that require more spiritual attention. I pray for Your help if putting on the armor and fighting the battle effectively. Help me to put on and keep on the full armor that I may take my stand – and having done all to stand. Through Jesus Christ, amen.