Orange Polos & Armor!

Tomorrow we officially enter into one of my favorite out-of-California seasons… fall!  I had always been a summer type of guy in my home town not too far from the northern California coast.  But out here in Oklahoma as in North Carolina… and in fact with most states east of the western coastline states… summers are a totally different kind of animal with their combination of high temperatures and high humidity levels!  The last couple of weeks have been in the low to mid eighties with a comfortable level of humidity.  For all intent and purposes, I’d think I was back in my hometown… if it weren’t so flat out here!

In my last position with The Home Depot where I worked for five years before quitting in 2010 to care for my wife full-time, I supervised a traveling merchandising team.  We covered nine stores both north and south of our home town in California.  We were in a different store daily and wore matching orange polo shirts with our Merchandising Execution Team (MET) logo on them to identify ourselves to store employees and customers alike.  When I left the job, I took my five allotted shirts with me.

The thing though is… that they scream that you are a Home Depot employee, so that I don’t feel comfortable wearing them when I’m out shopping or spending the day in crowded public places.  On the positive side, they are very comfortable, high quality shirts and they fit me really well so… on days like today when I’m planning on hanging around the house and neighborhood, I’ll wear one of the shirts!

One redeeming factor out here is that on first glance, they look a lot like the Oklahoma State University orange shirts that are very common throughout Oklahoma!  So as Fiver and I take our daily walks, I just give the golfers who are out on the greens in their orange shirts a wave and thumbs up and they happily return the gesture… none the wiser!

I was reading about how we Christians are told to stand firm in our faith when in the midst of the trials, tribulations and temptations that we all face at various times in our lives.  In Ephesians 6:13 the Apostle Paul encourages us saying, “For this reason, take up all the armor that God supplies. Then you will be able to take a stand during these evil days. Once you have overcome all obstacles, you will be able to stand your ground.” (God’s Word ©)  When I read that verse this morning, I couldn’t help thinking about how that armor is similar to the bright orange polo shirt that I have on today!

Just as that orange shirt associates me with the company that I used to work for, wearing our spiritual armor associates us with the Kingdom of God!  I’ve heard it said on multiple occasions through the years, that when the enemy of our souls see us wearing the full armor of God, that he can’t really tell if it is you behind all that shining protection or Jesus Himself!  I like that thought!  Don’t you?

An interesting point that I remembered while meditating on this portion of scripture while on our walk this morning, was the way Paul tells us in the King James Version to take “unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, stand therefore, having…” (Ephesians 6:13-14)

For years Piper and I ascribed to the idea that putting on the full armor of God was something that Christians need to do on a daily basis.  So, we wrote out these verses on paper and taped them to the mirrors in our bath and the kids bath as well, so that we could all make this a part of our daily confession.

Then we realized that last word in the above portion of scripture found in the beginning of Ephesians 6:14 where Paul says “HAVING…”  That makes that whole process past tense!  It a commitment or way of life that we adopt once and for all… and then polish, strengthen, upgrade and adjust our armor through regular fellowship in the Word of God… which is where all the different parts of the armor are found!

As far as my way of thinking goes… when the enemy attacks my house, I want to be ready for action and NOT have to take the time to look for and then try to put on the armor while fighting off the attacking forces with one hand!  How about you?  I’ve also learned that after a while, the armor of God becomes quite comfortable attire (just like my Home Depot polo shirts) and the more I enforce and update it with the ammunition in my daily study of the Word of God, the better it fits and feels!

What do you think about that?  Are you ready for battle?  How comfortable is your armor today?