Do You Wear a Helmet When You Eat a Sandwich?

Our three year old daughter has a great memory. Often times she will remember things that have happened in the past and will want to bring them up for discussion to see if we remember the same things. This happened the other day at lunch. A few days after Christmas members of my extended family got together to celebrate Christmas with one another. At the get together my youngest cousin who is just a little older than our daughter was there with some roller skates and her helmet. Well of course our daughter wanted to try and after putting on the skates and the helmet gave it a very valiant effort. For whatever reason, the other day at lunch she wanted to have a discussion about the helmet she wore while roller skating in my grandparents driveway. She began the conversation by asking me if I remembered the helmet which she had worn while rollerskating. I told her that I did. Then she asked me why she had to wear the helmet. I explained that it was because she was rollerskating and the helmet would have protected her head if she had fallen on the driveway. Then she began to ask me about several other activities which might possibly require wearing a helmet. She asked if she had to wear a helmet while riding in the wagon. She asked if she had to wear a helmet while riding her bike. But the last question was the best. With peanut butter and jelly sandwich in hand and a look of genuine seriousness she asked, "Daddy, do I wear a helmet when I'm eating a sandwich?" (What she was really asking was, "Do I have to wear a helmet when I'm eating a sandwich?" but she's three and so the actual wording she used was the original quote.) The visual made me laugh out loud - the mental image of my daughter sitting at the table with a bright pink helmet on eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cracked me up. Apparently my laughing caused her to laugh too and so for the next few moments we shared a great laugh together. Then when I had composed myself I explained to my daughter that "No, you don't have to wear a helmet when you are eating a sandwich."

Later that afternoon I began to wonder if I had missed a teaching opportunity and had given my daughter the wrong answer. In the book of Ephesians, Paul is writing to the believers at Ephesus and beginning in verse 10 of chapter 6 he gives a very important command to all believers in Christ. Paul writes "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able stand firm against the schemes of the devil." The analogy that Paul then begins to use compares a Christian to a fully armored Roman soldier. Paul's point is very clear - in the same way that a soldier would never go to battle without all of his armor and equipment, we as believers should never go about any part of day without having on all of our armor and having with us all of our equipment.

So here's an important question: How many pieces of the armor of God can you list without looking? This is an incredibly important question for believers. If you don't know what all of your armor and equipment is, how can you put it on each day and make sure that it remains on throughout the course of the day? Need a hint? Here they are:

• Your loins girded with truth - often refered to as the belt of truth(vs. 14);
• The breastplate of righteousness (vs. 14);
• Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace (vs. 15);
• The shield of faith (vs. 16);
• The helmet of salvation (vs. 17);
• The Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (vs. 17)

All of these pieces are incredibly important for us to go into spiritual battle each day and to fight off our spiritual enemies, but the helmet of salvation may in fact be the most important piece of the armor of God that we can possibly put on. It protects the most important part of our body - our head. And there is never really an appropriate time to take it off. Removing it would be removing a vital part of our spiritual protection and leave that part of our body completely open to attacks from our spiritual enemies.

Today, more than anything I want to encourage you to protect yourself from those spiritual enemies that look for any and every opportunity to bring harm to you. If you don't know what the pieces of the armor of God are and what they represent study Ephesians 6:10-17. Commit to memory what they are and then make sure that each and every morning you put them on and keep them on so that you will be protected against the assaults of the devil and his demons. And make sure that you always have your helmet on - even while your eating a sandwich.