The devil wants it to just be a meme. An overused trope in the spiritual warfare conversation.
"Oh yeah, check out this cute drawing of a kid in armor! Nothing else to see here, folks!"
Ephesians 6 is so well known now that the devil's strategy is not so much to hide it, but to downplay its importance as a childish and overused metaphor. At least, that's the sense that I get.
Instead, I think Ephesians 6 should be absolutely critical in the conversation of what a Christian's day-to-day life actually looks like. The offensive weapon in God's armor, the armor with which we stand firm against the spiritual forces of darkness, the weapon that cannot be overcome by death itself, is the Word of God, taken up with prayer at all times.
This sword must be out and working constantly, lest we fall again into sin and a spirit of slavery. The devil desperately desires this. We must resist, but in no other way than in taking up the sword of the spirit. The Word of God with prayer.
Hopefully this starts to open up how valuable, how essential, the Psalms really are. How precious are the words of our Lord when he teaches us to pray. To walk upon the earth without the Word of God and prayer is to wander through the wilderness unarmed, with a lion on the loose. We must bear arms against this evil age.
The Word of God is not just a nice idea. Prayer is not just a good practice for a devoted Christian. The Word of God and prayer are the very rhythm of a Christian's life. And the more central they become, the better we are armed against the prowling lion. Lord have mercy, and grant that we would cling to your Word and cry out to you in prayer at all times.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Into your hands I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Jesus Christ, faithful God. Amen.
I treasure the Psalms. I miss them right now as I've started to read the Bible again and some days am too lazy to read a chapter from the OT AND the Psalms. BUT even in (to me) boring sections like Leviticus 1-5, I'm delighted to suddenly be struck by the words, "and he shall be forgiven" following the description of all the places the blood of the offering must be placed/sprinkled/poured. That speaks to me. For the last 31 years I've had faithful shepherds in my life directing my attention to the blood of the Lamb.
ReplyDeleteWhat a blessing!
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