We continue to look at the armor of God in Ephesians 6: 10-20: 

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15 As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Today we continue with our look at the armor of God, and the part of the armor we are looking is the only part that can be used for offense – the sword of the Spirit.  This is an interesting phrase and concept. 

The sword referenced here would be the short blade that the Roman soldiers used. It would have been a shorter blade than the long sword or even the lance that you may be used to seeing. This sword would have been more readily available and useable and it would have been used a lot in hand to hand combat. 

It was something that you would have had at your side, at all times.  If you are a Star Wars fan, one of the things that the Jedi are taught to never lose their lightsaber, it was their life. That’s what this sword was. It was with them at all times. 

Now, this sword is the Word of God. We often think of this as the Bible. That is not an inaccurate way to look at this.  This word of God is something that is “spoken,” think of it as a prophetic utterance. It is something that the prophet would speak, as in scripture (the revealed, inspirited word of God) or something spoken by the prophet (i.e. preacher). 

I think this calls us to do things. First, to stay within the Word of God. Read your Bible. Memorize your Bible. Pray over and through your Bible.  Know your Bible so that when the attack of the devil comes, you have something to fight with. 

Second, stay connected to church.  We need worship and we need the gift that comes through worship, but through sermons, yes, but through every act of worship. We need to know the written word of God, but we also need the spoken word of God.  

I used to always say read your Bible, pray, and go to church.  In doing that, we will know how to use the sword of the Spirit. 

Tomorrow we’ll continue with Ephesians 6: 10-20. 

If you’d like to get each day’s daily scripture reading sent to your phone along with this reading guide, text @39110 to 81010 to sign up!