In the last five posts we have looked at most of our spiritual armour – truth, righteousness, peace and faith. We now come to the helmet of salvation.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; Ephesians 6:17 (NKJV)
The helmet guards our heads, in the case of spiritual warfare, our minds.
I remember reading the story of a young struggling pastor. He went to a wise older mentor who asked him if he was using the armour from Ephesians 6. The young pastor began to respond with what he had learned about the armour in seminary. The old fellow stopped him and said something like, “I don’t care if you know about it. What I want to know is, are you actually putting it on?” His point was that the armour is only useful if it is applied.
So, how do we protect our minds? This may sound odd, but we need to think about our thinking. Most of us are likely familiar with Romans 12:1-2 about the need to renew our minds, but like the story above, the knowledge is only useful if it is applied. I had occasion recently to share my distinction between knowledge and wisdom. I see it like being in the middle of the highway with a large truck coming at me. Knowledge is knowing I need to get out of the way; wisdom is moving!
In a similar way, knowledge is knowing I need to put on the helmet of salvation, weighing my viewpoints in light of scripture. Wisdom is aligning my thoughts with scripture. A shorter, but parallel passage to Romans 12:1-2 is below.
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, Ephesians 4:23 (NKJV)
This renewal process is clearly laid out by Paul in Philippians 4:6-8. Paul tells us that we are to set aside anxiety and worry and exchange it for peace. He tells us how. We are to turn our worry into prayer. This does not mean ‘praying the problem,’ giving our Father a list of what is wrong. Instead we are to bring before Him the change we desire to see (in line with His word) and then to meditate, to think deeply, on things that are good, pure, and right. The outcome is peace resting in our hearts.
This is putting on the helmet of salvation.
