“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of Salvation and the sword of the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” ~  Ephesians 6: 10-17 (NIV)

My husband and I were called on to participate in entertainment for our church Christmas party. We had 4 hours to prepare for our role which happened to be Jep and Jessica Robertson. I am short and brunette and he has short hair and no facial hair so it took a little work to get ready. As we put on our costumes to play to role and worked on our best Louisiana accents, I thought about the real me vs. the made up me. To prepare I curled my hair and changed my make-up, I found my best “yuppie” outfit and well that had to be good enough as my hair was going to stay very brown. My husband wore a “Jep” wig and beard and of course the necessary camo.

Wearing these costumes got me thinking, as we prepare for our day, is the Armor of God in our regular wardrobe or in our Christian costume closet? I know that I am guilty of getting up and rushing through my day and forgetting that I need my armor until it is absolutely necessary. When a client comes in and I feel over my head, when one more thing is added to my schedule, when I am driving and tempted to act less-than-Christian in my responses to others. We need to have the armor as part of our day to day natural dress. We get up, eat breakfast, dress, and put on our armor.

So what are ways to put on this armor in the morning? For me it is daily quiet time with God. I can feel the difference when I take out time in the morning to refocus and days when I don’t. This may be sitting in your living room with a cup of coffee, having a morning devotional with the kids, taking a morning run, or like me, sipping tea and focusing for the day on my drive to the office.

My prayer for you this week is that as we start to enter the New Year that the armor of God becomes as natural for you as carrying your purse, cellphone, and chapstick. That if you miss it for the day you feel that something is not complete and have to go back to get it.

Have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.