Ephesians 6:14
“Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness.”
Verses 10 through 17 refer to spiritual armor. This is the third time the phrase “stand firm” is used. This brings comfort. I’ve heard it said that we should be storming the gates of hell. In relation to evil and the devil, it is enough to stand firm. The previous verse spoke of the evil day. This is the storm that hits us unawares. We have to hunker down in our house that’s built on the rock foundation of Christ.
Part of standing firm is to have God’s armor on. Two are mentioned here, the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness. Today we’ll focus on the belt of truth. The truth is God’s Word. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” To fear God is to head His Words. The bible is His message.
Psalm One speaks of the blessed person. Verse two tells us why, “But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, And on His Law he meditates day and night.” This is different than societal laws. We keep them, but don’t dwell on them. God’s Word is spiritual food. I Peter 2:2 says, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.”
God speaks to us through His Word, we walk with Him by His Word. It’s like having a radio. As we read His Word, we are tuning into His station. We grow deep in relation with Him. “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children”, (Romans 8:16).
In our day, the belt holds up our pants. We’ve all have pants that were too big. Without a belt, they are coming down. We are distracted by holding them up. The belt of truth holds things together. We aren’t distracted. We know where we stand. There isn’t second guessing.
We are confident in Him. Storms will come. We learn to trust Him in difficult times. We learn to fear not.
We are to be in His Word. It’s step one to being in Christ. Knowing it isn’t enough. We have to obey it. We learn we are sinners, so we confess. We learn that Jesus died for our sins and we are to take His forgiveness. We learn that we are to walk with Him. Not just a bunch of commandments, but a loving God that wants to bless us. God’s Word opens all that to us.
Lord, thank You for Your Word. You’ve saved us with it’s message. Thank You that it’s belted about us, giving us confidence. We can stand firm in the evil day with all that You give to us through it’s truth. Thank You.