It begs the question, “What happens when we speak?” Maybe it first begs the question, “What does that have to do with how this article started?” I am glad you asked!
Let’s move back to Ephesians for a bit. It is within Ephesians 6:11-20 that we find the entirety of the Apostle Paul’s instruction concerning the armor. He first admonishes the believers to be strong in the Lord (not depending on their own ability) and in the power that comes from standing in the Lord’s strength. He proceeds by telling the Ephesians (and us) to put on the whole armor of God. “Of God” is in the masculine sense and is understood collectively meaning a reference to deity (theos) in the sense of resembling the deity or sitting in the place of a judge. We will pull that back into our thought in just a moment. Paul goes on to describe the pieces of the armor up through Ephesians 6:17.
That is our key to unlocking the dilemma of being all dressed up and nowhere to go.
Is there anything worse than putting on an outfit and having no agenda to match the attire? Can you imagine putting on an evening gown or a tuxedo and just sitting around your house? Can you imagine putting on your best outfit and waiting on the front porch with no itinerary? The reason we get dressed up in the natural is in response to an invitation for a specific event or purpose. Yet, we put on the whole armor and . . . .
According to Oxford’s online dictionary, a colon is a punctuation mark that separates two clauses of which the second explains or expands the first clause. Ephesians 6:17 ends with a colon. Paul lists every piece that we are to put on – the helmet of salvation, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, and the shield of faith – and then his writing pauses with a colon to conclude the list. By what we just learned, the colon says that what is being said next explains what was just said. What is coming is the reason or the purpose for what was said immediately before the colon. And what is next? Ephesians 6:18 (following the colon) says, “Praying . . . . “ There obviously is more, but let’s pause right there and say it again, “Praying . . . . “ The first word after the colon explains why we have the armor. Our instruction to put on armor is for the purpose of praying. This isn’t just any kind of praying, but this is results-oriented praying. Paul told us in the beginning of this discourse that we are being equipped to stand against the wiles of the devil. And how do we stand against the devil? We are outfitted with armor so that we can pray. We stand against the devil by praying. We are all dressed up AND we have somewhere to go!
We have an invitation to get dressed up in the armor “of God” which is to resemble the deity or sit in the place of judge. That means if the God of Genesis can say “Let there be . . . and there was,” then we can resemble deity or divinity of God by speaking and expecting that what we speak to will change.
We can speak to
illness, addictions, crisis, and even death
ALL DRESSED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO