Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Spiritual Armor

Scriptures: Ephesians 6:11,14-17 (NIV) – “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”  “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

1 Corinthians 15:54 (NIV) – “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written (Isaiah 25:8) will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

Message: The Ephesians Bible passage was in my daily devotional one day last week.  In 1 Corinthians, Paul also talks about how, if we put on God’s spiritual armor every day, then we are assured of victory in Christ as “Death has been swallowed up in victory”.

As adults, it’s easy for us to understand what Paul means.  But what about our children?  How would you go about explaining this to them?  Their need for this protection is just as great.  Our wonderful Director of Children’s Ministries, Miss Laura Malloy, found a way to do this over several weeks last fall.  She took each article mentioned, one at a time.  She talked about it, the children colored them, cut them out and made their own full suit of armor.  It was graphic and very tangible for our kindergarten through fifth graders (ages 5-11).  A sure sign that your message has hit the mark is when, during other lessons on other Sundays, the pieces in that suit of armor have been referred to along with the protections they will provide. 

As we look to gird ourselves from some of our daily concerns and trials, we might take a lesson from our children and put on those pieces of armor that will enable us to “stand firm” as we venture into our days with their inevitable temptations and be assured of victory. 

Prayer: Jesus, we are thankful for the protection Your Spiritual armor provides.  Make us mindful of its availability in our everyday living, so that death is swallowed up in victory.  Amen.

Kim Showalter