Helmet of Salvation

Ephesians 6:17a

and take the helmet of salvation

Good morning Zebras,

I tried to write this yesterday, but after an hour and a half of trying to figure out what to say I gave up. I have learned that when it “don’t come easy” there is something wrong.

And there was.

Yesterday as I tried to write about the helmet of salvation, I wrote about the importance of guarding our minds. I wrote about taking every thought captive and about thinking on things that are lovely and true. I wrote about our responsibilities as believers.

It was all true, but it wasn’t the point of the helmet. The helmet is made from salvation and that isn’t about us and what we are supposed to do, it is about God.

God has given us our salvation. We didn’t do anything to earn it. It is just a free gift, something that we are supposed to “take.” When we do it transforms the way we think.

Before Christ we were all concerned with the things of this world. A basic “what you see is all there is” mentality. We were driven to get “it all” because this is all there is to get. Sayings like “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die” and “He who dies with the most toys wins” drive us on to grab with both hands everything the world has to offer.

But after salvation God opens our minds and we realize that isn’t true.

What we see isn’t all there is, in fact it is only a shadow compared to what is to come. And “what is to come” is a new heaven and a new earth and eternal life in the presence of God. We begin to understand what is unseen is WAY greater than what is seen.

That is what it means to wear the helmet of salvation. It means our thinking has been transformed. Now we know this world is not our home, that Christ has conquered the power and penalty of sin, that we are new creatures in Christ who do not need to give in the worries and demands of this world.

It means we have hope.

Love,
Jill