Look, I have
given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among
snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. -- Luke 10: 19
(NLT)
Do you want to try and walk amongst snakes and scorpions without shoes on! Yet so many try every single day. And the enemy will attack you at that point. You may not experience personal trauma like when you forget the helmet but the work of God is denied. God will bring people into your path every day that He desires for you to show the Gospel to but without the shoes, you will not even recognize it. Your Christianity then becomes about you instead of about the lost.
The shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the enemy. Remember this is a battle and the enemy is constantly firing his darts at you. We must realize that the shield, unlike the other pieces of armor is not just something to "put on." Strapping a shield on your arm and then not raising it renders it useless. We must hold up our faith in the face of the lies of the enemy. The shield is our first line of defense. It prevents the attacks from reaching our body or our mind. You wouldn't want to go into battle and deflect everything with your head simply because you are wearing a helmet! But there we can be in the middle of the battle with our shield dropped to our side. We know the truth from the belt. We have the righteousness from the breastplate. We can even be assured of our salvation by wearing the helmet. Despite all of this though, we can get tired in this walk. As we grow more and more weary, the shield can drop to our side. Rest assured that is when the enemy will send even more fiery darts into our lives to further erode our faith in God. Two quick examples showing the contrast of raising your shield and dropping it. The first statement is from the father of the demon possessed son and the second is from the story about the woman with the issue of blood:
"It
has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do
anything, take pity on us and help us." -- Mark 9: 22 (NIV)
When
she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his
cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." --
Mark 5: 27-28 (NIV)
After over a decade of watching his son suffer, the father had dropped the shield to his side. His faith is eroding as we can see here in his weak prayer request which doubts the very power of the God he serves. The woman however, who also has dealt with her situation for over a decade, has her shield clearly raised and pressed on through her struggles with her faith. The enemy will always be firing his darts at us beloved. We must hold up our faith and keep our shield raised in defense.
The final two pieces of armor are related to each other. The breastplate of righteousness is the central piece of armor. It protects our vital organs such as our heart. Proverbs instructs us to protect our heart above all other things. Isaiah says that our own righteousness is no more than filthy rags. God knows what is best for us. His righteousness will protect us from ourselves and from the temptations the enemy loves to shower upon us. When we know that His righteousness says adultery is forbidden we know how to protect our marriage. When His righteousness says that murder is forbidden we avoid a lifetime in prison. The enemy is good at showing us options devoid of their consequences but the righteousness of God reminds us of both. But what holds our righteousness in place beloved? The belt of truth.
In Roman soldier equipment, it was the belt that held the breastplate in place. When Paul outlines the armor of God it is the belt that He instructs to put on first. Why? Because without the truth of God's Word the rest of the armor doesn't matter. Without the truth of God's Word everything else in our life begins to erode back into carnal thinking. Realize that when we choose to take the belt of truth off the first thing that falls to the ground is the breastplate of righteousness. There is no righteousness unless it is founded in, rooted by and secured with the truth. That is why you see so much compromise in these the end days.
How did we get to the point of Christian leaders pushing for the ecumenical movement to usher in a one world religion? They took off the belt! How did we get to the point where the prosperity gospel has turned Jesus Christ into an ATM for our whims? They took off the belt! How did we get to the point where emergent and seeker friendly church models deny the sufficiency of Christ? They took off the belt! Ordained homosexual pastors? They took off the belt! Purpose driven Chrislam? They took off the belt! When you take off the belt, the breastplate falls to the ground. When that happens you can compromise on what righteousness really is. You can make carnal arguments to support unscriptural undertakings. You can use the rationales and excuses of the world to explain spiritual problems. No matter where this writing finds you today -- don't take off the belt for anyone. Don't take it off for that unsaved boyfriend. Don't take it off for your pride or your lust. Don't take it off even for your church or your ministry. The danger if you do beloved is that the breastplate falls and you do not even realize it. You then begin to confuse your darkness for light. You then begin to recreate God in your own image. Heaven forbid.
