Living the Christian Life... Be Prepared!

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PART TWO

The Body Part: The Feet
The Protective Device: Padded footwear made for speed and agility
A bad fitting pair of shoes can really make walking a miserable experience. When the feet are not cared for and protected, it seems like everything else from head on down the body hurts. This is also not an area Christians are giving much time and attention to protecting. When this protection is missing or ignored, you can expect your spirituality to have a noticeable limp since the primary functions of your feet are mobilization, balance and readiness. If you have a spiritual limp it will be much harder to get away from dangers that can attack you. How can you flea from temptations and sin if you don’t prepare your feet properly? You can’t. Being unprotected at the feet compromises all the protective efforts you’ve made to the upper regions of your body. All of your Christian brothers and sisters are depending on you to be in a constant state of readiness for what comes.

Follow Paul’s counsel from Ephesians 6 in preparing your feet....with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Now that sounds like you need lightweight good fitting footwear that allows you to run away from harm and temptations but to also run after opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s the ultimate all-purpose athletic shoe! Remember to protect your feet, you don't want to injure yourself or let your team down during warm-ups and especially in the heat of competition.

The Body Part: The Head to the Knees
The Protective Device: A blocking Shield that covers all the vital areas at one time
No matter how well you prepare your head, your torso, your waist area and your feet, there are still ways for our adversary Satan to blast you with so much at one time that you need “extra” protection beyond what has been described thus far. In ancient times warriors fought in battles with shields large enough to cover the entire body nearly from head to toe. They would move the shield between them and the attacking forces, crouching behind the shield for protection from arrows and spears, deflecting them away from the vital organs of the body. As Christians, we need similar full deflecting protection. This protection really requires a well-developed faith, because we have to trust that God is going to help us deflect the barbs and arrows that are sent toward us to ruin our spirituality. Ephesians 6 says it best....In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

The apostle Paul is saying that in addition to all the padding and protection for you vital body parts, we need this extra layer, a shield to protect us. An impenetrable shield of Faith. Our faith hones our love of and trust in God. But how about our brothers and sisters in Christ? Our brothers and sisters also become our “shields.” Collectively as Christians we “shield each other” from the painful things that confront us everyday in this world. Sometimes these brotherly shields can actually save us from total spiritual meltdown. We build our shields through friendships and spiritual intimacy with one another. Built on love and forgiveness we are able to be a shield and we can expect many shields to come to our defense when troubles beset us. Don’t forget to develop your shield through the power of fellowship.

The Body Part: The Hands and Arms
The Protective Device: A Sword infused with unusual power
Most Christians are really not using this powerful device nearly as much as they should be using it. We’re not going to be padding our arms and hands, we’re going to take assertive and often times aggressive action with something we carry in the hand and wield with the power of our arm. The arms and hands are highly mobile and can hold things and perform a wide variety of tasks and functions. Our hand can hold a “sword” and our arm can propel it to a destination. This “sword” is more powerful than any real sword of iron or steal, for it is the Holy Word of God. The “Sword of the Spirit”. It cuts deep. It divides and conquers all things it touches. It convicts and condemns. It saves and preserves. There is nothing on this earth quite like the powerful Word of God. Even all padded up from head to feet, you can still be at great risk of injury because of a lack of essential training in how to use this powerful Sword. Christians need to be like athletes who train for events in the Olympic Games. Athletes go through rigorous training and eventually certify themselves by their winning performances thereby gaining a position on the Olympic Team. Christians need to do much the same thing in reading and personal study of the Word of God. If you know the plan of salvation, and can convey the gospel message and God’s ultimate plan for eternity, then you’ll be able to wield the “Sword of the Spirit” with precision. Everyone you encounter will hear the truth and be challenged by your personal mastery of the greatest of swords. Knowing the Bible... is your best offensive strategy. If you’re on offense the Devil has to play defense. The game of salvation is one game where it’s always better to be on offense than defense. So far, we’ve padded the “spiritual body”, made ready for offensive and strategic warfare - the spreading of the gospel to the ends of the earth. “Take up the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”

The Body Part: You, Me - Strategic and Technical Support for God’s Warriors
The Protective Device: An entire Uniform complete with Helmet, all pads, training and support
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

While protective body pads aren't 100% foolproof in any contact sport, imagine the game of football if players didn't wear helmets and pads. There would be so many injuries the game would never be played! Imagine the battle we are engaged in ... Spiritual Warfare, without protective gear. Our efforts in living as Christians and working for the Lord would be disastrous. The sheer number of injuries and spiritual deaths would be incredibly disruptive to the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) not to mention the loss of precious individuals that Christ has purchased by His death on the cross.

Spiritual athletes are what we are and we have the necessary gear to fight the battles and minimize risk and injury. Our head coach Jesus, the Christ, has equipped an army of militant and passionate believers, eager for the fight and prepared for the long haul. Pack your lunch! God’s army is on the horizon and we will march across the face of this earth to proclaim the gospel until He comes. The game plan is flawless and the equipment is the best we’ll ever need. We’ve already seen the “score board”.... God Wins by a wide margin!