—By Lois Lang
Ephesians 6:13-17: Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Have you ever been in a snowball fight? It’s great fun, making and stockpiling lots of snowballs to toss at each other. You usually tried to set up your “artillery” close to a tree trunk or shrub, so you’d have something to duck behind when a frozen bullet came flying at you. If you couldn’t hide fast enough, you’d try to deflect the incoming snowball with your arm or by turning your back. And you’d usually wear your thickest coat and softest hat, just in case of a direct hit.
In this Scripture, God describes how He wants us to prepare for battle against the evil one. Our bodies are pretty well protected, with a loin covering, a breastplate, good shoes, a shield, a helmet, and a sword. I’d like to focus on the shield of faith. In the snowball fight, whatever you used to shield yourself would deflect the snowballs, but would not destroy them. With a little luck, you could pick them up and throw them back at your opponent; and your opponent could hurl yours back at you, because the snowballs were not destroyed, just batted down. The shield God provides, the shield of faith, does far more than deflect incoming missiles. It extinguishes them. Poof! Gone! They can’t be used against you any more. That really would have come in handy in some of my snowball fights. And it does come in very handy as we deal with the “flaming missiles” fired at us relentlessly by our adversary, the evil one. Keep your shields up! (And enjoy that warm sweet cocoa your mom makes for you when the battle is done.)
Father, not only do You protect us from the evil one, You have already defeated him. And You have given us armor to wear so that we can withstand and extinguish whatever he throws at us. Thank You. Help us to wear Your full armor, and not give up or give in. We look forward to the time when the armor won’t be necessary. We pray in the Name of Jesus, in whom we have the victory. Amen.