THE Tree

A few years ago, when we were still traveling in our motor home, we were traveling through the southwest, either Arizona or New Mexico.  It was getting late at night and were looking for a place to camp.  We finally saw a sign saying that there was camping at the next exit.  I pulled off, but saw no sign of a campground.  It was dark, so I went to the gas station/convenience store and asked if there was camping and they said there was.  They gave me directions.  At one point in the directions, they said to turn at the tree.  It seemed odd but I thought I could find the place.  I did and we spent the night.  When we left in the morning, I saw the significance of THE tree.  There were no other trees in the area except for this BIG tree; so, now I understood the comment to turn at THE tree.

You might think, why am I mentioning this.  Well, I want you to consider the statement: “the whole armor of God”.  This is THE armor of God.  It’s not just any armor. 

If you look up the word “the” in a dictionary, you find the following:

-Used to mark a proper noun as something “unique”

-Used to mark a noun as “the most approved, most important, most satisfying”.

Now, go back to the statement “put on THE whole armor of God”.  His armor is unique, the most approved, the most important, the most satisfying.  He has given us HIS armor.  How do you feel when someone gives you a gift that is “unique” or the “most important”?  You feel honored to be given the gift.  But, now think about the fact that GOD Almighty gave you HIS armor.  He loved us so much that He gave it to us.  He loved us so much that he wanted to protect us from Satan, that He gave us His personal armor to protect us.  He trusts us so much that HE gave us His armor.  How did you feel when your dad let you drive his car?  Proud?  Scared to disappoint him? Grown up?  Honored?

Now consider that your heavenly Father gave you HIS armor.  He has entrusted you and me with His armor to do His work, to carry on the work began by His first begotten Son.  We are His adopted children; but He has given us the task to carry on the work of THE First Begotten Son, Jesus.  We have the exact same armor that His first begotten Son had, when He was on earth.

How would you feel if you gave your son or daughter something to protect them in time of trouble and they ignored it, did not take it seriously or failed to learn to use it properly?  It would be like a slap in the face.   What about if then, when they were beat up, they said: “well, I guess, mom and dad wanted this to happen to me to teach me a lesson”.  You would just want to slap them to get their attention and say back: “ yes, I wanted to teach you how to use what I gave you to protect yourself.”

What an awesome love that God gave us His armor!  What an awesome honor that God gave us His armor to carry on the work of His Son.  What an awesome responsibility that our Father has entrusted to us!