God’s Armor:  The Sword of the Spirit

By Shauna Leis

“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God.”

                                                                                                Ephesians 6:17  NIV

There is no weapon more elegant than a sword.  For centuries, the sword was the weapon of choice for gentlemen in their battles.  More movies that you can count have been dedicated to stories about knights, and swords, and sword fighting.  Even little boys, in their play, will pick any normal household item (like balloons even) and make it into this dueling weapon.  Many times these boys have not even been exposed to a real sword, but rather seem to have this innate nature to wield whatever they can find in the graceful back and forth motion. 

In reading this passage of scripture, my mind was drawn to the bottom portion of the verse that is given above.  The entire set of scripture prior to this verse tells about all of the defensive weapons that we have at our disposal – a helmet, feet, a shield, a belt.  When you reach verse 17, you discover that the only offensive weapon described in the entire “armor of God” is the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.  The only way to defend yourself against the onslaught of the enemy is to put on the armor of God.  However, the only way to “attack” the enemy is through knowledge of the Word of God.

One of my favorite movie sets is the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Frodo Baggins is such a hero in all senses of the word as he, a humble little hobbit, volunteered to go on this most dangerous mission to try to destroy a symbol of pure evil.  Frodo experiences many different adventures along the way, but at one point he receives some precious gifts from the Elven Kingdom.  Among these gifts is a sword.  Only this is not just any ordinary sword – this sword glows a brilliant blue when the enemy (the orks) were near.  How blessed was Frodo to have this weapon that would not only destroy his enemies, but would warn him in advance before they even arrived.

Now, how much more do we have in our “sword” to not only defend us against the attack of our enemy, but also to warn us of the looming threat.  When we take God’s Word and hide it in our hearts by committing it to our memories, we have just given ourselves an offensive weapon to keep the enemy at bay.  When Jesus was in the wilderness after His baptism in John 4, He was tempted by Satan on three different occasions.  In each of these instances, Jesus went on the offensive by quoting Words of God back to Satan and eventually the devil had to flee because he knew he did not stand a chance against the Word made flesh in Christ Jesus. 

God’s Word also keeps us aware of when the enemy is sneaking up and ready to attack.  When we are studying the bible and applying it to our lives, we begin to feel when the enemy is near, and we have time to react.  When we have accepted Christ as our Savior, His Holy Spirit takes up residence in our lives.  That still, small voice of the Spirit whispers in our ear “Get ready”.  Hopefully, we are so attuned to His Voice that we know to take immediate action against this looming threat.

Pray with me:  Dear God, You are such an amazing God and we do love You so very much.  How precious You are to provide both defensive and offensive weapons at our disposal to use against the threats of the enemy.  The enemy knows our strengths and weaknesses and will try to come in at all points to find some sort of chink in our defenses.  Praise to You Lord, that You have also given us an offensive weapon in the Word of God, our Sword of the Spirit.  We pray that You will help us commit to memory the scriptures that will be needed to fight off this most persistent enemy.  We know that he is trying to steal us away from You, but we also rest in the fact that he can never steal us from Your hand – we have been engraved there forever.  Our hearts, minds, souls – all that we are belongs to You and is here to give You all glory, and honor, and praise.