THE PERFECT FIT

Before King David was King, he was just a kid. A banjo-playing shepherd. Even on that day when he went to check on his brothers at the front and ended up fighting big, bad Goliath.

No problem for David. He had a pocket full of pebbles and a sling shot. 

But that wasn’t all he had.

1 Samuel 17:12 gives us the details. King Saul helped prepare David for the battle with Goliath. Saul put his own armor on David and even added a bronze helmet. Bronze, the metal; not bronze the color.

Wearing the King’s armor meant David was better armed than the rest of Saul’s army. When he was armored up, David fastened on a sword.

But then David tried to walk around. “I can’t go like this,” said David. “I’m not used to these.”

Then he took King Saul’s armor off, trotted onto the battlefield and killed Goliath.

King Saul’s armor might have been fine for another person. But not for David. It didn’t fit; not because it was too big for him. It didn’t fit because King Saul’s armor was man made.

And because David was already wearing armor.

He was wearing the armor of God.

We don’t hear about the armor of God until 1000 years later when Paul explains it in Ephesians 6:10-17

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish 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.

This post begins a series about the armor of God; the armor we should be wearing—underneath everything else. Our kevlar underwear. War togs to protect the army of Christ. The super special, best of all armor made for the King. By the King.

King Jesus.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for your protection. Help us grab hold of your armor and the protection you offer us against the Goliaths of evil in this life. Speak to our hearts about what Paul meant and help us apply these scriptures daily. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Will you think about Ephesians over the next few weeks with me?