Stand your ground, putting on the belt of
truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. Ephesians 6:14
In His sermon on the Mount of Olives Jesus said we would be blessed if
we hunger and thirst after righteousness.
He said we should seek the righteousness of the Kingdom of God first,
and worry about material things later.[1]
What is this righteous condition?
The word “righteousness” or “justice” comes from a basic verb which
means to show.
In a religious sense or application it means to stand before God with
your heart open and on display. There is
nothing hidden, God can inspect you. Is
that a comfortable idea? David prayed:
Search me O God, and know my heart; try me, and
know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me. Psalms 139.23-24a
Each of us has (at least) a few things in our life that, if they became
public, would cause us shame. Even if
not public, we struggle with the self-shaming guilt that knows we offend God. How do I know that? I don’t have a crystal ball; I’m not reading your
mail, or hiring a private investigator to spy on you. I simply have a human heart…and I read God’s
Word that tells me all about me…and you.
God knows the flesh lives inside us all.
Most of us know from experience (and the rest of us could guess from
sheer human intuition) that it is not a wonderful prospect to stand before a
righteous and holy God without some super-asbestos holy shield to protect us
from judgment.
The breastplate, or body armor, covers the vital core
organs, heart, lungs, and kidneys.
Having a breastplate of righteousness means your
heart has been cleansed, you’ve been forgiven of sin and made to stand
righteous, openly on show for God. When
it's like that, beloved, Satan’s darts are way out of range.
A fellow Christian once accused me of being uncaring and cold towards
him and his family. He then widened it
to include the whole church (and probably the whole of Western civilization!). I told him he misunderstood me, but that I
would pray for God to help me understand.
I did go to prayer, and while God affirmed to my heart that I really did
care for and love this brother and his family, there were some other things in
that area that needed my attention. When
I shared this with the brother, I could stand with the breastplate of
righteousness. I had stood honestly
before God. Satan could not use this
rift of understanding to break that church apart. He tries to do that, you know. A wise believer will put on the breastplate
and have a clean heart before God.
For You Today
Just as David
opened his heart to God’s inspection with a confession that he needed holy, omniscient
eyes to inspect every crease, crevice, and hiding spot of darkness in him, we
must also be that transparent in our walk with God.
[1] Title and Other Images: Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
[1] See Psalm 1, Matthew 5:6 and Matthew 6:33
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