¹³ Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. ¹⁴ Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. ¹⁵ For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. ¹⁶ In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. ¹⁷ Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The Armour Of God

Can I be honest with you? Sometimes I wonder if we miss the whole point of something God is trying to say to us because we are too quick to analyze every word and figure out a formula from every passage of Scripture.

How’s that for a mouthful!

Take the armour of God mentioned in this passage. If you’ve been around the church for any length of time, you’ve probably seen picture like the one to the right, or heard sermons preached from this passage where the speaker will dissect every part of what Paul mentions and how it all fits together.

I’ve heard preachers provide prayer formulas in which you systematically place each part of the armour of God on (spiritually) before you start your day. (“Lord, I place your helmet of salvation on my head and ask you to transform my thoughts by the renewing of my mind. I take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God and I use it to break through the lies of the enemy …”)

Now, if that works for you, great. But don’t miss the point of this passage.

Ultimately, what Paul is really saying here is we are dependent on God. We need him. Every moment of the day, we need to trust in God’s ability. As a follower of Christ, the only way – and I mean only way that we can succeed on this spiritual journey is by leaning completely on God. When we move ahead without him, we will fail.

Leaning completely on God means changing your lifestyle. Whether it’s how you think (helmet of salvation), what you use as your foundation for truth (sword of the Spirit & belt of truth), or the way you approach a situation (Gospel of peace), we must depend fully on God. Without him we fail. With him, we can do all things.

So, be careful of formulas. I don’t believe they truly get to the heart of what needs to change in order for us to depend on God.

My prayer: Lord, I need all of you. Yes, I need to put on the armour of God, but I do that by changing how I live. It starts and ends with complete submission to you. All through the day I must rely on you. You are my source of strength. You are my source of peace. You are the one I trust in. Completely. Amen.

Until tomorrow.

¹⁰ A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. ¹² For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

The Dark World

I supposed I’ve seen the good and the bad within spirituality. As someone who was saved into a Pentecostal church, I learned early on about the Spirit of God. I was taught that the devil was real, and that there really is something called spiritual warfare. I believe that my first church had a very good balance on this area.

However, over the years, I have met many who I think are unbalanced. They take extremes. Some focus so much on spiritual warfare that they see a devil behind every bush. Regardless of what happens, they focus on the spiritual battle behind the event. On the other side of the coin are those who seem to act as if the devil doesn’t exist. Oh, they will say they believe in the devil, and yet they don’t understand the first thing about dark forces. They find it easy to see God’s hand at work in the world, but dismiss any suggestion of the devil’s work as silly or superstitious.

We simply can’t cover this subject in depth in this devotional. It’s not the purpose of the Oil Change. And yet, le t me suggest to you that the spirit realm is far more complex than we often give it credit. Yes, God exists. And yes, the devil does too. Yes there are angels doing God’s work in the world. And yes, there are demons doing evil.

Our role? Put on spiritual armour so that we can accomplish all that God calls us to do without falling into the trap of evil. Recognize that our battle isn’t against another religion or a different worldview. Our battle is a spiritual one. It is a battle for the hearts of people. And God promises us that when we do things his way, we simply cannot fail.

So, what is the armour of God? Well, for that you will have to wait until tomorrow.

My prayer: Lord, may I never take the spiritual realm lightly. Help me to never simply dismiss it as silliness. And yet, at the same time, help me to keep my focus on what you have called me to accomplish. As I wear your armour, I step out in faith and do what you’ve called me to do. And in the end, I know that I will prevail with you. Amen.

Until tomorrow.

⁵ Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. ⁶ Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. ⁷ Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. ⁸ Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.⁹ Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.

Work Relationships

Paul now turns his attention to the third significant relationship that we have. Let’s face it, next to our spouse and our families, the people we work with take up a lot of our time and energy. Anyone who has experienced a bad work environment knows how draining and challenging it can be.

Before we dive into this a little deeper, I should point out that Paul is not promoting slavery as we think of it. Unfortunately, many people have used passages like this one to argue that the Bible supports slavery. But that is not what Paul is doing. Having said that, slavery was very common in Paul’s day. However, many people became slaves by choice. It could be a decent paying job and it allowed the individuals, and their families, to live in fairly decent comfort.

We really should think of slavery in biblical times the same way we think of a typical employer / employee relationship today. Now, for some of you, that’s much easier to do than for others! No wonder you call your boss a “slave driver!”

The bottom line here is that Paul challenges us to respond a certain way regardless of our role within the workplace. Whether we are “the boss” or “the worker,” we need to be above reproach. We should treat those around us decently and put a full effort into all we do.

Most importantly, we should never lose sight of the amazing truth that God is the Master of all. In that sense, we are all slaves to him.

My prayer: Lord, help me to work hard each and every day. Not so that I am recognized by those around me, but so that you are honoured by my work effort. As I start each day, help me to consider all I do in my job as doing something for you. I work for you. Whether I am an employer or an employee, you are ultimately my boss. Amen.

Until tomorrow.