City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

“¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Ephesians 6:17 (NIV)

^“35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”

Romans 8:35 (NKJV)

Reflection

During the service this week, the helmet of salvation was on my mind, so I asked Aisha to switch devotionals with me.  So, thank you for indulging my impulse.

When I was young, I played football.  Oh, how I loved the game.  But one year I had a helmet that was so insanely tight that it would leave two bright red stripes down my forehead that would last for hours.  Finally, my parents got it changed out with one that fit much better.  With this new helmet I still had the standard helmet mark, but I could concentrate on doing my job so much better.  I felt more protected, so I was more confident and so much more capable of doing my job.  Your helmet, your salvation should be something that you can wear and it should be something that helps you live the life that God intends.

This is a nice story, but I don’t want you to think that you are the one that shapes your salvation.  On the contrary, it is salvation shaping you.  I like something Allister Beggs said; because of salvation Christians no longer have a choice about some things, and this is a great protection. Think of a math nerd and an equation like the Pythagorean theorem (A² + B² = C²).  This is an equation we all learn in school, but it is so well accepted and proved, that we have come to understand that it is how the world works.  To math nerds, they know it so well that they don’t know that they can say anything else, even if they would suffer a consequence for speaking it.  You can try to talk them out of it or even threaten them, but they are just going to repeat it back to you, like Dustin Hoffman in “Rainman.”  They know that to say otherwise it will cause the world to come crashing down on them.

Application

In Ephesians 6:17, Paul tells us to take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.  I find it interesting that he mentions them together.  You can think of the helmet as the application of God’s word inwardly and the sword of the Spirit as the application of God’s word outwardly.  So, spending time reading your Bible and praying is like taking up the helmet of salvation.  This is the time that you can come to know how God’s kingdom works, and the gift of salvation can grow in you into something that protects you from even the unseen dangers.

Prayer

Dear Lord, thank You for my salvation.  I pray that you continue to work in me and strengthen me in the knowledge of Your kingdom.  Help me renew my mind, that Your thoughts become my thoughts.  And in all things teach me to be obedient to Your word.  To the praise of Your glory and grace.  Amen.