Armed for Battle

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By Andrew Beasley     Imagine sending a soldier off to war without any weapon or armor to defend themselves. Would you expect them to last very long against the enemy that they are tasked with fighting? The implication of Paul’s statement in Ephesians 6:11 is that by putting on the full armor of God it is possible for you to go out and to wage war against our enemy, the devil, and to be successful in doing so. Of course the other side of that coin is that if you do not put on the full armor of God, what chance do you have in a fight against him?     There is more to simply putting on the armor that goes into the process as a Christian. We must learn how to use each piece of armor that God has given us to wield. An aspiring football player would not play without first learning how to throw, or carry, the football and without knowing how to put their pads on with an understanding of what each piece does to protect them. Remember when David was preparing to fight Goliath and King Saul offered him his armor (1st Sam. 17:32-40)? David’s response, while gracious, was that he could not use it because he had not tested it out.     Instead, when David went out to fight the battle with Goliath he went out armed with God on his side and the tools that he was accustomed to. It takes time. It takes diligence. But mostly, it takes courage to prepare for the battle that God has called us to, to get ourselves ready, and to put on the full armor that we might wage war against our great enemy, Satan.

- Andrew Beasley serves as a minister with the Northwest Church of Christ in Greensboro, NC. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: https://nwchurchofchrist.com/about/

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