I got burnt this week. Badly burnt.

You see, I thought I had sun block on, I thought I was protected by a shield of lotion, but I hadn’t put it on and was exposed to the extremely harsh sun for almost two hours in the middle of the day.

At times, it’s easy to be deceived into thinking we’re protected from external attacks when in fact we’ve left ourselves wide open to getting hurt. I had sun block, I had exactly what I needed to hand, but left in the bottle it wasn’t much use. It needed to be applied and put on.

When Paul writes to the Ephesians, he is clear that we’re in a spiritual battle and must put on our armour. We can’t assume to be safe or protected when the devil’s schemes are involved. Interestingly though, before we put on the armour provided to us, we are to “be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” (Ephesians 6:10, emphasis mine)

Jesus has all the strength we need to be protected from the intense and fiery attacks the devil will shoot at us. It’s Jesus’ strength that is our protection, so we know it is sufficient. To stand firm in His strength we have to acknowledge Jesus’ role and then put on the additional protection we’ve been given – much like a sun lotion barrier, “the shield of faith” being the piece of armour that will extinguish the flaming arrows.

How readily do we pick up our shield of faith when we get out of bed in the morning ready to face the day? How often do we leave ourselves exposed to getting burnt simply because we’ve left Jesus behind when we step out the door?

Each time I go outside, I don’t panic about being in the sun, because I know that protection is readily available. In the same way, Jesus has already “disarmed the powers and authorities… triumphing over them by the cross.” (Colossians 2:15) While we are in the middle of spiritual warfare, the battle has already been won and that’s our shield, we stand behind the victory of the cross.

In the meantime, don’t forget to put your armour on so you don’t get burnt.