Meditations: The Full Armor of God--The Belt of Truth

Ephesians 6: 10-18

Eternal Life with Jesus.  Over the years, we as Christians have been taught that this the ultimate goal.  We've also been taught, correctly, that we cannot do anything to earn that eternal life ourselves, but that we must accept the gracious gift from God in the form of the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus Christ.

As exciting as that is, eternal life with Jesus is still a long ways off.  After all, statistically speaking, the women in my family have been known to live over 100 years.  This is where a common misconception comes in to play, the thought that God really only cares about our eternal life.  God is not only interested in our eternal lives after death, he wants to be an active part of our lives now, too.  He loves us so much that, instead of just waiting for us to survive this life and join him in the next, he actively works to help us through this life.  Now that doesn't mean that he's out to make life easy on us, but he does offer a variety of tools and supports meant to protect us and strengthen us so we can survive the battles that come our way.

The first of these that Paul discusses in Ephesians 6:14 is the belt of truth.  Before we get into the spiritual analogy here, let's look at regular old belts.  A belt is an item that a person wraps around his waist to hold his outfit together.  For some of us, it's more of a visual thing, fashionably tying the outfit together.  For others, the belt quite literally holds our pants on our bodies.  More often than not, belts are made of some material that is woven together.  In Ephesus, Paul's audience would have seen belts as a necessity given the lack of the little miracle known as elastic.

This necessary article of clothing is the first piece of spiritual armor Paul talks about.  It's referred to as the belt of truth.  Truth is a vital component in this battle with the evil one, after all, he's known as the father of lies for a reason.  The truth is what holds the rest of the armor in place.

So, what does that mean?  Where do we get this truth and how does it become a belt?  The Truth that Paul is referring to comes in several forms.  Just like a good belt is woven from several individual pieces.  (High school science flashback: Remember the discussion about rope being stronger with all the strands joined together than each of the individual pieces alone...)  You can, and should, find the truth in the predictable way by reading the Bible.  That is God's Word in black-and-white.  However, we need multiple strands for added strength.  This is why a church community is so important.  You need the Sunday sermon to explain what you're reading.  You need a small group discussion of both the sermon and your reading to gain clarification and new insights.  And, you need the fellowship of believers to simply support you in your struggles.  All of these different strands, woven together, create a strong belt that will hold together the armor that God designed to help us survive this life we're living now.

Last Week: The Full Armor of God--Why do we need it?
Next Week: The Full Armor of God--The Breastplate of Righteousness