God se Woord in vandag se woorde

Know your Bible, or lose the war


Ephesians 6:10-20

Paul used an image very familiar to the people of Ephesus to explain to them how they had to prepare themselves for the spiritual war that they and we too, of course, have to fight every day. The image he used was that of a Greek soldier’s armour.

·       Without a proper belt the armour can fall down, making it totally useless. Make sure that the truth and only the truth is fitted tightly around your waist. Even a small white lie can destroy everything.

·       We know how important protection is for our feet. Even a small thorn can hurt a lot and cause you to stumble. This is the message of the Gospel of peace that should not only form part of our armour, but should also be the message that we share with others.

·       And to ward off the arrows of the enemy we need the shield of faith. There are things we cannot always see, and not always understand, but that we have to believe in. The shield helps us not to get caught up in uncertainties.

·       And we have to protect our head with a helmet. This is the knowledge, what we know for certain, namely that we have been saved by Jesus. This message must motivate and encourage us to get up again and again, to stand up against the attacks by the enemy.

Now we come to what is probably the most important part of our armour – the sword. This is not really for defending ourselves, but to step forward and start attacking. We’re no longer sitting on the couch watching a war movie. No, we’re fighting.

I’ve told you previously that I was a gunner on a Ratel (an armoured vehicle) in the army. Every gunner treated his cannon as his baby. You knew every little part and also exactly where it should go. You knew it inside out, like the palm of your hand. You knew the way it should work. You knew what to do to make it work well. Even if something went wrong, you knew exactly how to correct it. They could’ve woken you up in the middle of the night, but even half awake you would’ve been able to take your cannon apart in minutes AND put it together again, because it was war …

And what do we need for the spiritual war? 17… the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

For the spiritual war the Holy Spirit issues you with a sword – the Word of God. We should know the Bible inside out. We must know exactly how to use it. When the attacks come we must be able to fight back with words and actions.

Look, there is a war going on. Temptations will come your way every day. If you do not know how to use your sword, if you do not know what this weapon of yours can do, you will definitely lose a fight or two. Even the devil tries to use it as a weapon. Just look at the way the devil tried to tempt Jesus in the desert. He even quoted scripture from the Old Testament to try and tempt Jesus.

And you don’t even need many degrees or even words to explain how these weapons should be used. No, simply make time and read your Bible. That’s all!

Reflection

Do you understand the war?

Do you understand that you need God’s Word to attack?

How much time do you spend with God’s Word?

Prayer

Lord! I call out to You, because I make so many mistakes. The biggest mistake is that I do not make time to put on my armour. I take too many chances and try to win the fight on my own. I realise very day that it is impossible to do that. Please remind me of the value and purpose of my armour! It can save my life. Amen

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