Thinking Faith

DEVOTION
EPHESIANS
THINKING FAITH
Eph 6:17
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
NIV
I have heard it said that Christianity is a heart issue, but I think here it is clear Christianity is a thinking man’s faith. Why else would I need a helmet other than to protect my head, my mind, and my thoughts? Certainly God’s helmet has that purpose. He desired this helmet so the enemy of my soul could not bash my head in. Now I would suppose this helmet serves to protect my understanding from getting away from me. That is I have clarity of thought regarding my position in Christ. I have a full understanding of my place in the body of Christ and the forgiveness of my sin through the blood of Christ. This helmet gets my understanding from being darkened by the Satan with thoughts of my own abilities. He would have me to believe I am not in need of that blood or of the cross. I also believe this helmet protects my judgment from being confused by any of those temptations Satan hurls my way. If I am not careful and forget to place this helmet upon my head, I may not be able to tell something is a temptation for I do believe they can come in such a disguised manner it could slip past my judgment. They could get me thinking, “Well this isn’t really sin” or “God doesn’t really care about this or that thing”. My judgment could be clouded, or I should say has been clouded at times, I must have forgotten my helmet. Then there are those subtle arguments of the sophisticated ungodly. Some of them can twist the Word of God is such ways it might make some sense if I were not wearing my helmet. I have a fairly simple mind, and am I not extremely smart. I certainly lack skillful debating abilities. So, if I cannot rely on God’s helmet I am in deep trouble. But I am so thankful for what God have provided for my protection. I would have already been dead upon the battlefield of life if it were not for his armor. Maybe David did not need Saul’s armor, but I certainly need God’s. But then perhaps it was David’s faith which was God’s armor no one could see and that which fit David perfectly. And this armor of God is all about God not about me. It is his armor, his protection, his provision, his power and greatness to keep me safe from harm and of being destroyed by the evil one. But it does require my faith. I have to believe it is there for me. I must believe God has given it to me. Although it cannot be seen, it fits me perfectly. This helmet is so comfortable and so useful in protecting my thinking, my faith.