Got a Belt?
I have to wear a belt with my pants. I know that there are some men who don’t think they have to, but I hate the feeling of having my pants fall down all the time. There are times when my wife, Dawn, tells me that my belt is too tight and makes me look funny. However, I just can’t stand pulling my pants up all the time.
It’s interesting here that Paul talks about a belt as part of the Armor of God. However, this isn’t just any ordinary belt. OH, NO, this is the belt of truth. Well, the truth of the matter is, many of us, from time to time, have had trouble with “telling the truth, the whole truth.” There are a few reasons why we may not tell the whole truth.
- We don’t want to get into trouble. I’ve done this many times, especially growing up. But I always got caught and of course the punishment was always worse for lying. I found that if I had just come out with the truth in the first place it wouldn’t have been so bad. After all, the truth was going to come out, especially since I was a preacher’s kid. After all the whole church had a watchful eye on me. There was one time, I was driving down Norton Rd. and when I got home my father said, “Rob, were you speeding down Norton?” Of course, my answer was no. I didn’t want to lose the keys to the car, or my license. What I found out was that there was a family from the church behind me on Norton Rd. They saw me speeding, got home, called my Dad and told him I was speeding. That’s when I found out that I had to slow down and behave and “Tell the TRUTH.”
- Sometimes we don’t tell the “whole truth” because we don’t want to hurt someone. We figure if we hide the hurtful parts, that would be a good thing. Again, remember that the truth will come out. In this case, when the truth comes out, you might lose your friend and you lose your reputation as being an honest person.
There are other reasons why we wouldn’t tell the whole truth, but I want to get into Ephesians 6:14-15 and the “Belt of Truth” in our armor. Paul tells us, “So then, take your stand! Fasten truth around your waist like a belt…” We have to remember that Paul was in prison when he was writing this letter. He was under constant guard and was staring at the guard day and night. He had an ideal picture of the armor needed by the Believer to fight the forces that we’ve hit on over the last several blogs.
The belt was used to hold the soldier’s clothing next to his body, kind of like our belts do. This kept his clothing from flapping around and allowed him freedom of movement. Come on, think about it, if you’re pulling your pants up all the time, how much freedom do you really have. As my Grandmother would always say, “Put a belt on.”
The belt also supports and strengthens the core of the soldier, or person. I know mine helps me sit up straight, holds in my stomach, and supports my back. Now, the sign of the Christian soldier is the belt of truth…not individually or subjectively throughout. Not truth as a man or a group of men see it. Not truth that is found in our novel ideas. Not truth that is taught by religion. All of these are self-centered and restrictive. These are from our finite minds and are small, impure, and frail. There’s no way that we can possibly discover enough truth to embrace everyone. We cannot discover enough truth to bring life to everyone, not eternal life. God and God alone can possess and give enough pure truth to embrace everyone. God alone can share the truth of abundant and eternal life.
So then, what is the belt of truth? What is God’s truth that we’re to put on? I’m glad you asked.
First, Jesus is truth. We are to put on Jesus and Him alone. John 1:14 says, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth”
Second, the Word of God is truth. We’re to put on the Word of God. We’re sanctified by the Word of God. That just means that we’re cleansed by the Word. This means that we need to read the Word, study the Word, memorize the Word. Oh, I can hear y’all right now, “Pastor, I can’t memorize the Word.” If you can memorize addresses, phone numbers, what time your TV show is on, you can memorize the Word of God. It really isn’t that hard. In John 17:17 Jesus says, “Sanctify them through thy truth: they word is truth”
Third, speaking and living a life of truthfulness is the truth. King David had an affair with another man’s wife. He then had that man killed. He took the wife as his wife. He covered it all up. Nathan the Prophet came to see him and exposed the lie. David denied it at first, until Nathan told him it was King David that did the deed. David’s witness was shot because he had lied. When we lie, when we don’t live a life of truth. When we are not truthful, we hurt our witness for God. We must do what the Word tells us, “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members of one another” Ephesians 4:25.
To get to the end of this piece of the armor…the truth does a few things for us. It keeps us from flapping around from one thing to another, from being tossed to and fro by every attack of the enemy. It keep us from becoming entangled with the things of this life. And it supports us in the battles and trials of life.
So, to tighten this information together, put on a belt. Just make sure that it’s the Belt of Truth.
Until next time,
Pastor Rob
