BUCKLE UP

Today’s post is the second in a series about putting on the full armor of God.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist ( Ephesians 6:14)

I’ve reached that point in life, when the clothes I love best are baggy shirts and elastic waist pants. I swore I’d never wear elastic waist pants. But that was when I was younger and thinner.

One of the things that’s so great about elastic pants is that your pants stay up all by themselves. You might have to tug and readjust, but you never have to worry that they will end up down—when you get up. No need for a pesky, uncomfortable belt.

Back in bible days, folks didn’t wear pants. They wore tunics—giant sheet sorts of things. Then to keep the big mass of fabric out of the way, so they could move and work, they wore belts. Sometimes those belts held tools. Sometimes weapons.

In Ephesians, Paul encourages us to put on the full armor of God. And the very first piece of the armor he mentions is God’s belt of truth.

Other, more scholarly writers will point to God’s Commandment # 9 “Thou shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” (Deuteronomy 5:20) They’ll point out that, living a Christ-like life means living truth; abhorring lies.

Let’s take that as a given. We shouldn’t lie. Looking further, Paul gives us four instructions here in Ephesians 6:14:

1. Stand firm. Don’t worry that your pants will fall down or that everything will get in the way. With Jesus, we have confidence.
2. Buckle it. Don’t just hold truth against your body; don’t tie it with a slip knot. Buckle it. Make it secure.
3. It’s a belt of truth. A belt of truth keeps the big mass of lies out of the way, enabling a person to move and work. And truth is a weapon that can be used to fight the evil one’s lies.
4. Wear it around your waist. Don’t just attatch it to your pinky where it could slip off. Rather, buckle it around your waist. Attach the very center of you—to Jesus.

Most importantly: the truth IS Jesus. Jesus is the truth, the way and the life. What better way for God to protect us—to arm us—than if we wear Jesus?  

Remember the 1960’s TV jingle? Buckle up for safety. Everybody buckle up.

Seatbelts used to be annoying. Inconvenient. Uncomfortable. But after 50 years of wearing seatbelts, they are no longer a big deal. Now I buckle up even when I drive from one end of the shopping center to the other. The fact that I drive is another matter entirely…The point is that I buckle up.

I’ll probably wear elastic waist pants the rest of my life. But that doesn’t mean I don’t need God’s belt of truth buckled securely around my waist. A belt of truth might feel annoying sometimes. Or inconvenient. Or uncomfortable. But it will keep me secure.

And—just like a seatbelt—I’ll get used to it. Hopefully, I'll get so used to it that I will feel uncomfortable WITHOUT it.

Everybody buckle up!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please protect us by helping us into your armor. Help us today buckle the belt of truth—Jesus—securely around us and those we love. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? What does the belt of truth mean to you?