“Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” (Eph. 6:13)

Verse 13 is a repeat of verse 11. Paul tells the Ephesians the same thing with a slight variation of words because he knows how important this particular lesson is. He repeats it after explaining the kind of war the Christian is engaged in. They need the armor of God and Paul wants to make sure they get the point. Many years later people are still reading this letter and missing the point. I hope we don’t do that.

“Put on” is the instruction of verse 11. “Take up” is the instruction of verse 13. Take it up, put it on. We should get the point. Use God’s armor not something else. Nothing in this world can defeat our enemy except God who created our enemy and us. Nothing. No thing, no person, no ideology, no mystic formula, no razzle-dazzle and certainly no sticking our heads in the proverbial sand.

A battle is coming. We may have been in skirmishes already. But an all-out war is in front of us. There will be an evil day. You will have one, and I will have one. It will be a no holds barred event, an all-out effort to take us over and subject us to the power of this world. We are without hope in this world if we are without God in this world.

I like that phrase, so I’m going to repeat it. We are without hope in this world if we are without God in this world. Plain. Straightforward. To the point. No God, no hope! That’s it in one nutshell.

But, there is hope. There is light at the end of the tunnel. All is not lost. The battle is not over. We have a defense system. All we have to do is deploy it. Take it up and put it on. The whole armor of God can withstand the most ferocious charge of the demon world. They cannot penetrate this force shield. There is no weak place. It is foolproof.

Task for Today: Easy assignment in light of the text don’t you think? This is one of those “Just Do It” moments. This spiritual life and death and can’t be put off for a more convenient day. Behold, the evil day draws nigh.