Date: July 19th 2010

REFLECTIONS BY THE POND
July 19, 2010


A FAIR FIGHT

After almost twenty years living here, I still have not found the
one best place to park my toolbox. If I leave it in the workshop,
I will need it next in the barn to repair the mower or tractor.
If I leave it out in the barn, I will need it next in the garage
to work on the Jeep, or all the way upstairs in the house to fix
a leaking faucet.

I have tried splitting up my tools, placing what I believe to be
the essentials in my main toolbox, while relegating those tools
deemed less essential in a secondary toolbox. Sure enough, the
next time I am anywhere with the main toolbox, I will invariably
need something left behind in the second one.

No matter what system I devise, the right tools for the job are
rarely where I need them next. It would seem that the only
solution left is to fashion a leather belt that will hold every
tool I own, and wear it at all times. As far as I can tell, this
is the only way to ensure that the right tool is always in the
right place when it is needed.
____________________

In Ephesians, the apostle Paul describes another toolkit--with
one critical difference: this toolkit is not for repairing
household items, but is to be used by us in our daily struggles
against evil. The toolkit is called "the full armor of God":

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
to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the
heavenly places.
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. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins
with truth, and having put on the breastplate of
righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation
of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the
shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all
the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God.
Ephesians 6:10-17

Our spiritual toolkit consists of items readily available to
us--we don't even have to run out to the hardware store to buy
them. In fact, as Christians, these tools are part of
us--actually grafted into us. They were included in the package
of grace we received at our moment of regeneration. All we have
to do is remember to use them.

God never promised any of us a rose garden. He daily hones and
tests us, scouring and polishing us for His service. He sets
difficult things in our path, and waits to see what we do about
it. He puts us through struggles of seemingly eternal duration to
teach us dependency and maturity.

But God believes in a fair fight. He never leaves us standing
before the enemy without our trusty toolkit. Even Jesus had His,
and He put it to good use during His trial in the wilderness.
Jesus had all the tools he needed in just two items.

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and
was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness.
Luke 4:1

Many years ago, when we were in Kenya and came upon a thoroughly
gorged cheetah that had just finished consuming its kill, one of
our traveling companions referred to the sated feline with the
rounded belly as the "replete cheetah."

The Lord Jesus was "replete" with the Holy Spirit.

The second tool Jesus had at His disposal was holy Scripture.
This he wielded not like a screwdriver, but like a two-edged
sword.

God the Father was putting His only Son up against evil
incarnate, the one and only Satan. The real thing. Not one of his
despicable minions, but the big cheese himself. Jesus would need
all the arsenal He could carry. The problem was, He didn't have
the strength to carry much of anything. After forty days without
food--forty days, by the way, of constant badgering by
Satan--Jesus was in a physically weakened state.

He couldn't have swung a pair of pliers, much less a sword.

No matter. He needed nothing more than those two things He had
carried from the beginning: the sustaining power of the Holy
Spirit, and memorized Scripture.

Here was the timeless Son of God, who could have chosen any
weapon from a limitless arsenal. As very God, surely He could
have selected something a bit more flashy than quotations from an
ancient parchment.

Jesus could have used myriad items from His vast toolkit, but
what did He pull out? Three quotations from that old dusty tome
entitled "Deuteronomy":

"He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna
which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He
might make you understand that man does not live by bread
alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the
mouth of the Lord."
Deuteronomy 8:3

"You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship
Him and swear by His name."
"You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you
tested Him at Massah."
Deuteronomy 6:13,16

One of the more encouraging, yet sobering aspects of this
encounter between Jesus and Satan, is that Jesus does battle--and
wins!--with precisely the same weapons available to us. Every
believer comes with the indwelling Spirit, and just about
everyone has access to God's word and the capacity to "hide it in
their heart".

We don't have to worry about where it was we left our toolbox.
These two tools--these two weapons: the Spirit and memorized
Scripture--can always be with us, no matter where we are.




____________________
Copyright 2010, David S. Lampel. All rights reserved.
http://dlampel.com
Reflections: #0456
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture is from the
New American Standard Bible (Updated Edition).
This and earlier issues of Reflections by the Pond
may be read and/or downloaded at our web site
at http://dlampel.com