I really appreciate the fact that in this passage on spiritual warfare, the Apostle Paul reminds us to put on the whole armor of God and then is very specific about what that means.
So let’s take a look today at one of the first pieces of armor that we need to be aware of. It’s number one on the list. And here’s what it says in Ephesians chapter six, verse 14. Stand there for having fastened on the belt of truth. Now, it’s interesting when you think of the times that Paul wrote, the belt wasn’t used like a belt we think of today to kind of hold your pants up. But a belt at that time was really to kind of tie things together to hold things together.
So for example, if you had a long flowing robe, you might pull it up and tuck it in the belt so that you could run and fight during a battle. Also in the Roman armor, they had a belt that would Help to hold together in place the rest of the armor.
Well, what is it that holds things in place for the Christian in the battle against temptation? And the answer is truth.
First of all, this is important, because Jesus made it very clear that he was the giver of truth. In fact, he embodying truth. He said I am the way the truth and the light.
The Bible tells us that God’s Word is truth. And so we need to be armed with the truth, the truth about ourselves. We need to know our limitations. We need to know what areas that we are weakest in, and so we can stay away from those areas. When we know the truth about ourselves. We need to know the truth about the consequences of sin.
Remember, when Satan came to Eve in the garden, he told her that if she ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she wouldn’t die. He lied to her. And because she took her focus off the truth, death entered into the world. And so we need to be aware of the truth, always knowing that there is this standard of reality, this standard of revelation that God has given us so that we can know the truth from the lies.
And so today, let’s put on that belt of truth together. Let that tie together and hold together all of the rest of the armor, so we’ll be able to stand our ground in the day of battle.