MONDAY July 29th
We ended the devotions last week by considering the first two items that make up the armour of God, the belt and the breastplate, together they represented truth and righteousness.
For today’s devotion I want us to consider the two together, and we will read some scriptures that will remind us again of their importance in relation to what we are as the children of God.
The first is from John 17, ‘Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.’ These are some of the words of the prayer that Jesus made concerning those who would believe on him, and he asks that we would be sanctified, which means be made holy, and it would come about not only by our being washed or cleansed in his precious blood, but by continuing to be made holy through his word, which is truth. We can look at it this way, we have been made holy and righteous at salvation, but as we continue our daily walk, we need to daily apply the word of truth to enable us to continue to live holy lives, to live righteously in this ungodly world. Truth and righteousness working together, we could say they go hand in hand.
Now in light of the request that Jesus made in his prayer, Jesus prayed it because he knew that God’s word is truth, and we also need to fully accept it as being true and in the Old Testament we have these words, found in Proverbs 30:5 ‘Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him’, and in Psalm 119:142 ‘Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true.’
See the link again with truth and righteousness, highlighting how important they are in our lives. To adhere to and to live by truth and to desire to live righteously in the ungodly world in which we live. When we do there is this real sense of protection, refuge, security that is available to all those who love God, love truth and love righteousness. In Proverbs 21:21 we read ‘Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honour.’
What we spend our time pursuing impacts what we are as God’s children, again from Proverbs, this time 15:9 ‘The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but he loves him who pursues righteousness.’ One more scripture, this time from the KJV, for the modern translations replace the word truth with faithfulness, ‘He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.’ Psalm 91:4.