Max, my grandson, (age 4) loves to collect pairs of gloves; he calls them “glubs.”
The other day, while shopping, I found a pair of Halloween gloves for him to add to his ‘glub’ collection.
They had a strange really bad smell because of the embossed bone print on the top of the hand. When I gave them to him he jumped up and down saying, “Thanks, mamaw, they JUST what I been needin’!”
Later, as I turned to put supper on the table, there stood Max; WEARING 2 grocery store bags! One he had taken a pair of scissors and cut two cuts in the bottom, put his legs through the cuts and pulled the bag up so the handles went over his shoulders, making grocery bag overalls.
The second bag he had put across his back, putting an arm through each handle. The bag puffed over his shoulders like a balloon cape. Underneath his bag outfit, he wore a pair of black shorts.
He had put a blue plastic mixing bowl on his head, a pair of black knee socks on his feet and his new black bone gloves on his little hands.
Stunned, I said, MAX! what are you doing? He stood there, hands on his hips and proclaimed, “I’m Bag Man, I fight evil all over!”
Before I could regain my composure, he held out a black gloved bone hand and said, “Smell my hand, it has vapors on it to fight evil.” From Bag Man’s bowl helmet to the ‘protective guiding socks;’ each piece of his armor had special ‘reasons.’
In Ephesians 6, God uses the armor of a warrior to illustrate how important our Christian armor is. As Christians, we are in a battle, a battle where the victory is certain but the battle is tough. If we neglect to dress for battle, or go into battle with a piece of our ‘armor’ missing, we risk serious spiritual injury.
Every day, remember, dress for spiritual warfare. We need more than the helmet of salvation. We need the shield of faith, the sword of the spirit and the shoes of the Gospel of peace. We are in a battle; put your war clothes on.
Ephesians 6:10-13 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 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.
Prayer: Father, remind me to always put my spiritual armor on before I start my day. Your word is a light to my path—I need the full protection of your armor to see me on. Amen.