Monday, December 14, 2020
Full armor of God
An excerpt from Ephesians 6:10-18 (NRSV)
Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Reflection from Leigh Stewart:
This passage reminds me of Joan of Arc and the golden statue in Paris of her clad in armor, filled with faith in God, and ready to do battle for Him and her people. At the young age of 17 this illiterate farm girl, despite these deficiencies and I’m sure feeling very vulnerable, convinced battle-hardened career warriors to place her at the head of their army and lead it to victory - and she did! In this passage, you and I, with all our own deficiencies and vulnerability, are exhorted to put on “the whole armor of God” - faith, truth, righteousness, peace, salvation, perseverance - to wrestle against darkness and evil. Our only strength truly is in the Lord!
For further study and prayer, the readings assigned for today are:
Psalm 125; 1 Kings 18:1-18; Ephesians 6:10-17
Photograph by Leigh Stewart – Statue of Jeanne d’Arc in Paris, Place des Pyramides, France - July 4, 2014.
Music
“The Morning Trumpet”
Traditional folk song, arr. Mack Wilberg
“And now I am a soldier and my captain’s gone before,
And I hear the trumpet sound in that morning
He’s given my orders and he bids me ne’er give o’er
‘Til I hear the trumpet sound in that morning.
O shout with glory! I shall mount above the skies
When I hear the trumpet sound in that
morning.”