Picking Up the Shield

Take up the Shield of Faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.   Ephesians 6:16

Some of you have seen the huge sword that stands guard inside my front door these days. It is on loan from a very dear friend, and every time I pass by it I am reminded to pick up the Sword of the Spirit, "...which is the word of God," (Eph. 6:17) The word of God is living and active and powerful. It penetrates through the darkness to do damage to the enemy and the evil that would seek to overcome us. It is part of the full armor of God that Paul, in Ephesians 6, tells us to put on each day to fight the battle of the faith. This isn't a make-believe battle, friends. It is real. Our battle-cry is 1 John 4:4, "Greater is he who is in you [me!] than he who is in the world." The Shield of Faith is another piece of that armor. In battle, the shield and the sword work together. The sword pierces and cuts; the shield is the protector--the deflector. It prohibits the arrows of the enemy from penetrating us. God wants us to live each day carrying a strong shield of faith by which he may protect us from the "flaming arrows of the evil one." What are those arrows? We know them well: an evil thought; a nagging false guilt; a statement of condemnation; an accusation; a tidbit of despair; a seed of contempt; a temptation; a lie from Satan himself. I find it interesting that this is something we must do ourselves. A shield is only valuable if it is picked up and carried; it's worthless if it's left on the ground. The shield of faith deflects the arrows, "..and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith." 1 John 5:4 The power of Christ, folks, is within us, and it is greater than anything we will see, hear, or think. It is our calling as followers of Christ to pick up this shield daily and use it for protection, to stand firm in our faith. Today some subtle but powerful arrows may be shot your way--arrows that are meant to lodge in your mind and destroy your peace...or hurt your heart....or send you on a dangerous detour......or cause you to doubt God's goodness. Have you picked up your shield today? Only you can do it. Greg