Breastplate of Righteousness

 Last week we thought about the belt of truth. 

That takes me back to an earlier story in 2 Kings 6. Remember that poor servant of the prophet Elisha? All he could see was the surrounding enemy, and all he could say was (loosely translated), “We’re gonna die.” All it took, though, was a good dose of truth, and the realization that “there are more with us than there are with them” (6:16). I hope you’ve all had occasion to throw that verse at your own circumstances, and take comfort in its truth.

This week Tony decided to lead the way amongst our friends and have the first cataract removed.  I know many of you out there can relate to the pure JOY he feels now that he can see clearly again. He had no idea (as he’s been reminding me over and over and…) how the years had gradually clouded down his vision until what he thought was ‘normal’ was indeed pretty compromised.  Now he’s leaping and dancing around because he’s seeing leaves and colors again. The doctor told him that cataracts ‘suck up all the blues and greens’ in our vision, and that’s what he seems to notice more often. His very first “deer in the headlight” vision came when he looked out back and realized that our neighbor’s fence was blue, and not the dark gray he thought it was.

And I think that Tony’s experience is not too different from that of Elisha’s servant, in terms of shock and awe. For the servant, though, the experience was even more significant because he really thought all was lost. In Tony’s case, the deterioration was so gradual, he had to have the surgery before he could realize the truth of his condition.

That brings us to the next ‘item of armor’: the Breastplate of Righteousness. 

Many years ago, Tony’s mother had a heart attack that went bad. She survived, but the triple bypass went septic and it began to look like it was going to get the best of her. Mind you, this was about 20 years ago and medicine has (hopefully) gotten better. Back then, the only option available was to was to remove the infected breastplate, that protecting bone we call a sternum.

As dramatic as that seemed, the surgery seemed to have turned the tide.  She healed up nicely, even having plastic surgery afterward to make her look all pretty again.

But now she had no sternum.  Many of us don’t give a lot of thought to this predicament, but with no breastplate, your heart and lungs (pretty important organs, after all) are wide open to the slightest sneeze or cough or grandchild’s knee.

The solution was for her to strap on a child sized catcher’s vest, especially when she rode in the car where a tap on the brakes could have wreaked havoc with her and the diagonal seatbelt.  

So in Ephesians 6 :14, “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness”,  I think it’s interesting that  Paul only mentions it as he talks about the belt, almost as if we should know what the “Breastplate of Righteousness” is.  

One comment you sent last week (Thank you! BTW), was that by filling our tool belt with memorized Scriptures, we can quickly access them and know right away what is the right approach to the things that come our way.  

We don’t have to look far to see practical applications. As I overheard my 10 yr old grandson asking his mother about a man he came across who was wearing eye makeup, my heart hurt for the world he’s growing into.  HOW he needs this breastplate of knowing what Righteousness is and being able to use it properly.

Pray with us all as we venture forth.  We have Australian elections here next week and most of these same issues I’ve mentioned above are at stake in the people we vote for.  Then in just another couple of weeks, the fate of our American way of life hangs in the balance. Regardless of who is elected, we’ve been promised that No One is going to take it lying down. How we need to be praying!

Keep the faith, Marsha