And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; Ephesians 6:17-18.
The next piece of our Christian armor discussed in the book of Ephesians is the helmet of salvation. As we all know, a helmet covers our head, its purpose being to protect our brain from harm. In the spiritual realm, it isn't necessarily our physical grey matter that needs protecting, but more our mind and thought life.
Many of us have experienced our minds being the battleground on which Satan wages his war against us, as Paul so aptly describes in chapters 7 and 8 of Romans. To combat this problem, we believers are instructed in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to "cast down every imagination and every thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."
Wow! How many of us are truly aware that we have the power and authority in the name of Jesus to just lasso our thoughts and cast them down like a rodeo rider hog-tying a dogie? Not many, I would guess, and yet that appears to be exactly what the Bible says!
I have to be reminded of this constantly, since I am one of those "deep thinkers" who can find myself slipping down into a pit of gloom. I believe I've been wired this way for creative purposes, but Satan often uses this gift of deep thinking against me. As a result, I have had to discipline myself over the years to stop and focus on who I am IN Christ before allowing my negative thought life to take over. Again, I will confess this is easier said than done - and perhaps I've been stubborn and heard-headed in this area - but negative thoughts can be destructive and deadly. So many people struggle with this problem in the natural and get hooked on medications to control depression. But the answer to this dilemma is found in the Word of God. By putting on this helmet of salvation every day, we can be spared the pain and heartache that comes from dark and demonic thoughts.
How is this done? One way is to read, meditate on, and confess out loud the Word of God. As we do so, we are reminding ourselves of what Jesus did for us on the cross. He took all of our sins and the curse associated with sin, He vanquished death and brought us to a shalom peace reconciliation with our heavenly Father. These are wonderful, marvelous, lofty truths to meditate on and allow to seep into our consciousness. It takes as much discipline as a soldier literally placing a protective helmet over his or her head. It's something we must decide to do every day AND DO IT on purpose until out thoughts align with the reality relayed in the Word.
But there's more! Next time, we will discuss how prayer, both in our understanding and in the spirit, works together with this helmet of salvation to keep us safe and protected! Until then, mediate on the Word describing your gift of salvation from the Lord Jesus Christ and confess it out loud! You'll be amazed at the results!
