"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." Ephesians 6:16
Did you notice how this piece of armor is described with the words "Above all"? Those two words should get our attention immediately and make us think, "Ok, this part is really important!"
Psalm 18:35 mentions the shield, "Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great."
The shield is also mentioned in Psalm 18: 2 & 30, but it is referred to as a "buckler" in the KJV. A buckler is defined as "a round shield held by a grip and sometimes having straps through which the arm is passed."
"The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." Psalm 18:2
"As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him." Psalm 18:30
Verses 2 and 30 mention the trust we must have in the Lord to use His shield. God actually gives us Himself to use as a shield.
Sometimes the shield gets a little heavy, or Christians start feeling safe and comfortable and they lay their shields down because of a false sense of security. Laying the shield down is dangerous because we become vulnerable to the enemy. The devil knows he can't hurt us when our shield is up, so he waits for us to set it aside. That is why the sense of security we get is false. The only security is behind the shield of our faith in Christ.
Your shield may be heavy... you may be a new Christian who is not used to carrying the shield... you may have been feeling (falsely) safe and set your shield down somewhere, wherever it is pick it up because you need it above all else.
Last night I had an unusual experience that brought your blog to life for me today. A precious young lady needed me to SHIELD her as she left from our facility last night. She was having an emotional time and didn't want to walk out through the crowd. After reading your blog I wondered how many more people need our shielding as we are strengthen from HIS shielding. Makes me think - how about you?
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this with us! You have got me thinking because I never really considered using my shield of faith for someone else.
ReplyDeleteOur spiritual gifts are very personal gifts from the Holy Spirit, but we still need to share them with others.
Knowing this should be even more encouragement to keep holding that shield of faith up strong! We will always need the shield of faith for ourselves, but we need to be ready to hold it in front of someone else when they are in need!