So that it may turn out well for you

Ephesians 6 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ² Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), ³ so that it may turn out well for you, and that you may live long on the earth.

⁴ Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

⁵ Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; ⁶ not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. ⁷ With goodwill render service, as to the Lord, and not to people, ⁸ knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive this back from the Lord, whether slave or free.

⁹ And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. ¹² 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. ¹³ Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints, ¹⁹ and pray in my behalf, that speech may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

²¹ Now, so that you also may know about my circumstances as to what I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you. ²² I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know about us, and that he may comfort your hearts.

²³ Peace be to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.

Today’s text begins: Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may turn out well for you, and that you may live long on the earth.  How much more, as children of God, should we be obedient to our heavenly Father so that it will turn out well for us. In Deuteronomy 30:15-20 God said: “See, I have placed before you today life and happiness, and death and adversity, in that I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, so that you may live and become numerous, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but allow yourself to be led astray and you worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you will certainly perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and take possession of it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding close to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, so that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”  God’s promises and blessings are for those who are obedient. For those who are disobedient His promise is the curse of adversity and death. He says: So choose life in order that you may live.

Why would anyone choose death and adversity? The devil tries to make us choose disobedience to God through deception and confusion. In John 14:6 Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” The devil tries to have us choose a different way. The text says: 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 on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having strapped on your feet 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. With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit.  

It is vital that the first protection we have against the schemes of the devil and the world forces of this darkness and the spiritual forces of wickedness, is truth. It may not be possible for us to prepare to resist every lie and deception of the devil, but all we really need is to know truth. In John 17:17, when Jesus prayed for us on the night that He was betrayed, He said: Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. If we know the truth, the lies of the devil will be foolishness to us. The breastplate of righteousness protects our heart. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. More even than covering our hearts, we actually put on and become the righteousness of Christ, who knew no sin. The shield of faith requires that we not only know the truth, but that we also believe it regardless of what the circumstances might look like. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says: We walk by faith, not by sight. In the same way that the breastplate of righteousness protects our hearts, the helmet of salvation protects our minds. As long as we know and believe in our sure salvation in Christ, the devils lies cannot hurt us. In Psalm 23:4 the psalmist says: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.  Even death is nothing for us to fear. It is merely a shadow between this life and the eternal life we have with God. I did not skip the strapping on of the gospel of peace. Romans 8:31 says: If God is for us, who is against us? If we walk in the peace of God, no one or nothing can stand against us. Romans 16:20 says: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Finally, God’s truth is not only for our guidance and protection, we can also use the truth of God’s word as a weapon by declaring and praying truth in the face of lies. Again, Romans 8:31 says: If God is for us, who is against us?  Even more though than being for us, we have the Spirit of God in us. If we don’t know what to say or how to pray, we can trust the Spirit to do it for us.

Peace be to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love. Amen.