Ephesians 6:13-17(NIV) “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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish 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.”
This passage describes the armor of God that we are encouraged to wear. Today I want to focus on “the sword of the Spirit” which represents the Word of God. When you scroll through social media what do you see? There are so many different types of content, but the one type that I have seen grow in the past few years (especially during lockdown) is opinionated content. From political views, to what products reviews and strange conspiracies; the growth of this kind of content only increases social polarization. So many opinions tell you how to live and what to think. Opinions masquerade as wisdom when really most of it is folly. With all the noise going on, it's an understatement to say that I was influenced… I was brainwashed! 1 John 2:15 (NIV) states, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them”. I frankly didn’t have an opinion of my own and was following the ever-changing ways of the world. Everything that I said was cross-checked with what was up to date at the time. I was spewing folly and the opinions of the world because I loved the world and its ways. That was until I began to read God’s Word.
Imagine you are gearing up for war. You and your fellow soldiers are lined up and picking out weaponry. One of the options is a shiny, sharp and trusty sword that guarantees victory. The other is a wooden sword; buffed out and painted silver to look just like a real one. It will work for some time, but eventually, it will wear out. Every soldier seems to be picking up the latter. You decide to pick up the wooden sword as well, while it looks like a real sword really you know it isn’t. You could have easily picked up the real deal, useful and sure to bring harm on the opposition, yet you followed the crowd and picked up the one that everyone else used. You followed the trend. Obviously, when you go into battle you won’t have anything to truly protect yourself with because you chose the imitation over the original. This analogy shows how easy it is to get swept up in the beliefs and ways of the world. These beliefs are popular - they are disguised to look wise when really they are not.
As human beings, it is so easy to get caught up in the noise of the world, but as Christians, we are led to a greater calling that tells us to please God instead! When I began to read my Bible, I was transformed. Not knowing where I was going, and not knowing that with every Bible study, The LORD was molding me into the person he wants me to be. He was fixing my weak and confused mind into a wise and strong one. As disciples of the Most High, it is important to always be apt. To speak wisdom and convey truth. How can you teach math if you don’t know the first thing about addition? In the same way, how can we spread God’s word and be His messengers if we don’t even know what we’re talking about? The only way to know about God’s Word… is to read God’s Word! 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV) describes the Bible as “... God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”
I hope that from today’s message you take away that instead of carrying the world's ever-changing and untrustworthy opinions into the battle we call life, you pick up your trusty sword, gifted to you from the Most High. Reading your Bible is like reading a manual, it guides you on how to go about life, and most importantly, it reveals who God is!
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